Hogwarts Morning Radio
by Eth0
Summary: It's September 2016, and a new batch of First years are rolling into Hogwarts. Four students, from four different houses and four different backgrounds will meet, and their friendships will lead to great happiness, great sorrow, and a project that will change the world. Full OC story documenting their full 7 years of schooling, as they unravel the secrets of the world around them.
1. Day Zero

Chapter 1 - Day Zero

[] [] [] – Laila

The old steam train slammed its horn as it crossed into Scotland, on a dreary day deep in September as the rain struck the windows with a harsh clatter. The radio was broken, only delivering static as the steel brute pushed its way north to its destination. Of course, for the people onboard, it was anything but, because this train was due towards the illustrious Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

For everyone, there was an air of excitement, as good natured ribbing and running jokes permeated the older years, as friends reunited after a summer away. Among the first years, the mere presence of the miracles ahead provided enough excitement. The internals of the Hogwarts Express was never still nor silent, as the various prank tools obtained through means of varying legality detonated about the hall like rainbow hand grenades, which forced the incredibly grumpy Defence against the Dark Arts teacher to save the students from shell shock before they even arrive. Laila Faust sighed as the deep bellow permeated the several cabins through to the one the slim, quiet girl sat alone in. She for one was dreading what lay ahead, gazing deep into Northumberlands rolling hills as if they would offer a solution to her worried mind.

Instead, the black haired, pale girl got a knock on the door. Frustrated, she turned her head towards the frosted glass door, rich black hair waving across the cabin behind her, as calmly as she could word the beginnings of "I'm sorry, but I do not need anything off the trolley, thank you.", only to be interrupted by herself as she observed the small figure before her. She recoiled, before beckoning the girl in before apologising profusely. As Laila attempted to work out what she may have said in her moment of impetulance, the girl waved it off, and asked "Mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is full, and I'm so lonely!"

Laila's face fell slightly, as the reddy-brown 11 year old exuded an air of absurd glee for the adventure ahead. 'Gryffindor,' Laila thought to herself grimly. 'Definitely.'

Still, never a bad time to make friends, unless her greatest enemy planned to haunt her so soon into her schooling. "What's your name?" she inquired politely as she had been taught, crossing her fingers the ditzy girl wouldn't be from an old family.

Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed as through a comically wide smile she squealed "I'm Anna Król!" She looked a bit downcast, as she continued "That names from Poland, it's an old wizard family, and I've been looking forward to this for ages... And yourself?"

Anna's eyes looked back up into the pale girls face, as she seemed to retreat out of a fear, as she realised what she was worried about. Laila moved forward, politely taking her hand to reassure her "It's quite alright. I don't mind at all about your nationality."

The Polish girls face lifted up in a new brightness, as Laila continued "I'm Laila"

She perked up to no end at this, returning to form with a gleeful fist pump, and yelling "Alright! Hey, when we get in why don't we work together and beat all the Slytherins!"

It was Laila's face's turn to fall, as she knew exactly which house she was going into. Her greatest enemy haunted her so soon out the gate. There was no way a Faust was being put into anything except Slytherin, unless you planned on being practically excommunicated for most of your teenage life. Growing up as a noble pureblood was no easy feat, owing to the fact that she wasn't allowed to have too many friends. Whatever "friends" she had were all only around due to her wealth and status. That's why she felt dismay as Anna described the adventures they were going to have, almost to the point that she missed the quiet cough at the door. As they both turned to the source of the noise, and were visibly shocked, not that it mattered with this person.

The sorry, slim figure leant on the door, as if the wind was about to blow him out the window and carry him away into the Scottish Highlands. All he wore was a knee length white hospital gown, with no shoes. His harsh lines looked unfamiliar with food, and his weary face looked unfamiliar with sleep. Of course, that was still not the most remarkable thing about the frail figure, as he wore a black ropelike cloth across his eyes, stretching back and tied with a reef knot at the back, with red blotches down the skin stretching below the fabric, a sign of the state of his eyes. As he spoke, he struggled to make himself heard over the noise of the train, with the voice of an eighty year old softly spreading around the room through a deep, if wheezy Welsh accent and a slight stutter.

"Do you.. do you mind if I sit here?" he whispered, unsure as to who was in the cabin, moving his head around the room, not even sure if he would get a response. The newly confident Anna spoke up. "Come on in! Sit beside me!"

His face stayed low, as he gripped the edges of the doors for dear life, as he brought himself round to the cushioned chair. Like an old man, he breathed a soft sigh as he rested. Laila, who found the boy curious, asked "Are you a first year too?", to which he turned to her, seeing her for the first time, before responded "Yes. Lucas Jacobson Beck, at your service." Before Laila could respond with the first sane person she'd met all day, from the train station and on, Anna butted in with "Awesome! I'm Anna, and this is Laila!" He nodded to the pair, before leaning back, and queried "What houses do you suppose you will be admitted to?"

"Both Gryffindors, right here!" Anna responded instantly, causing Laila to move about awkwardly, and quietly agree. His brow furrowed as he seemed to focus in on Laila, seeming to sense the tension. For a blind man, he certainly saw a lot, Laila thought. He gave a slight smirk, as if acknowledging her issue, before chuckling softly "I guess we'll see."

Before an awkward silence could permeate around the shaggy, quiet boy, a far louder one appeared, complete with short spiky blonde hair and a beret, holding a pair of headphones and a clean, confident face, eying up the last spot before peering at the occupants with a sly grin, and an eyebrow asking the unspoken question. Anna was somewhat distracted, so Laila invited him in as she greeted him in with "Of course, there is a free seat here." Immediately, Lucas broke in with "Who is it?" Laila frowned at his manners, before the confident boy responded by waving her concern, and charismatically responding "Names Tyler Brown, good to meet you!", greeting them with his arms as much as his mouth, gesturing to them all as he introduced himself. He looked quite handsome for an eleven year old, with fiery orange hair, and a tall, strong build. As he sat down, he asked the crowd "D'you want to be friends?" Lucas restrained himself to a respectful nod, Laila replied "Of course", in a mannerly way, Anna exploded over the fellow extrovert, introducing everyone present, as Tyler responded smoothly to each person. Laila went back to fiddling with the radio, and Anna and Tyler went back and forth, with Lucas occasionally interrupting with probing questions and sniping responses, as the train tirelessly moved north.

[] [] [] – Laila

The group departed onto the platform just past 10 o'clock, as the white smoke rose up from the tracks starkly contrasting the black night. The various hubbubs of groups departed, as Laila joined her new friends. Lucas had proven very difficult to manage to move, as while he claimed he could reasonably move about, one instance of walking into the station door was proof enough for the other three that he was going to need some serious help getting around. Laila was relieved that at least he was light as he leaned on them more and more on the walk to the carriages, Tyler jibing him all the way. As they hauled him in and onto the elevated seat an hour behind, shivering under the scowl of Caretaker Jech, a short man with wrinkles within wrinkles and a massive inferiority complex, they leaned back and caught their breath.

"Why do I get the feeling we're going to be doing this a lot?" Tyler quipped to the girls, before the sarcastic reply softly rose out of the carriage "You might say that, I couldn't possibly comment." Rolling his eyes, Tyler called back "You better learn to walk fast Lucas, or I might drop you if you keep that up!" A chuckle was all they got in response, as the Caretaker grunted, to hurry them in. As they all piled in, the springs along the axle fell under their pressure. It was well lined, with leather stitching along the brass edges and pulled by an invisible magic. Of course, that was not the focus of the night. As the carriage moved along into the night, Tyler, a half blood who only learned of the magical world when he received that fateful letter, quizzed Anna on the magical world.

"So we get to fly broomsticks? Woah, what's that like? Is it like in a game, or?"

"Nah, you fly it with your thoughts!"

"Nice! It's so cool you grew up with this stuff.."

Laila and Lucas sat on the opposite end, conversely silent. They were both deep in thought, occasionally asking questions but listening rather than talking. Laila knew exactly what her own problem was, but she found Lucas a mystery. Anna and Tyler were open books, but Lucas' resting scowl betrayed nothing. As if summoned, he finally spoke again "S-so how long have you known? About… magic..."

Caught off guard, she responded mannerly, unfamiliar with friends, especially ones wearing hospital gowns,but she responded courteously with "Yes, both my parents were magical, my whole family is. We're… we're referred to as pure bloods."

She looked ashamed saying that, knowing how superior it made her sound. But when she looked up, she was shocked to see a smile on his face.

"So, a…. pure blood by definition would imply a... higher status, but your... disdain in admitting it shows it's an old notion from the establishment. Of course, there is a…. likelihood of this being enforced more strongly a few generations ago much as in, and... old habits die hard. There will probably be others a little less considerate than you, which means I'm going to have to watch my back. Thank you... I now know a little bit about social history and you yourself, as you proved empathetic. From the train, when I asked your houses you were quite... apprehensive, which leads me to believe you may be put in a more conservative house due to family, where you fear you won't fit in."

She froze as he let out his final wheeze of analysis, wheels in her head turning at lightspeed. He had seen right through her. He could well be an eighty year old in boys body. Her eyes widened as he sat back and almost dialled out, not even giving his emotional hammer blow a second thought. Even the oblivious pair in the front noticed her disbelief.

"You alright?" Tyler asked, not missing a beat. Laila shook her head, and Tyler asked no more, engaging masterfully in small talk all the way to the lake, even drawing a few quiet, calculated sentences out of Lucas along the ride. After a while, they arrived at the shore of the lake, and transitioned from the carriage to the boats. The boats certainly proved interesting, after Lucas had changed into his Hogwarts gown in private in a toilet next to the lakeside, prompting the question from Anna as they entered the water "Why didn't you get your things before heading to London?"

Lucas paused, mid entry into the boat, turning back slightly and whispering "M-Maybe sometime else…", before sitting at the helm and gripping the light with white hands as the others began to row. As they set off into the Black Lake, he whispered "What… what does it look like?"

Tyler, who was sitting behind him, leant forward and whispered back "It's an old scottish castle, tall and grey, peaking up into the sky like a fairy story with the spiked tops. It has a bridge leading in from the lake, up to the edge where the castle rises like a wall with the earth, with hundreds of window, all lit up like halloween orange. It's split into three parts, a hall closer to the lake, a grand tower above it all, and a hubbub of smaller towers."

"Beautiful…" Anna finished, as Lucas smiled genuinely stroking his fingers into the lakewater, and taking in the night air. Laila sat at the back, still fretful. Lucas had seen through her, even if he was still too unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the wizarding world to give names, he saw the pattern. Anna was going to be horrified. Tyler seemed nice enough that he would understand, but he had seemed somewhat superficial.

Was she going to lose her new friends?

[] [] [] - Laila

They had been waiting outside the great hall fifteen minutes now, and the student body was beginning to get nervous and shuffly, as the temperature of the small room skyrocket from the hundred or so people standing in the confined space. Lucas and Anna were freaking out, though Lucas was doing it in a remarkably understated way, Tyler was introducing himself in his confident manner, and Laila's annoyance was punctuated by the arrival of the last two people she wanted to see.

"Laila, it's very good to see you."

She internally groaned as she turned to face her two acquaintances, Roland Artois and and Maria Da Carrara, the respective heirs to their families, and two of the three big European houses. Faust was the third, from Germany.

'Just like me…' She thought.

They had been introduced at a young age, always interacting in the gardens of their mansions in measured tones, not wanting to harm their respective families standing as hired guards watched from an apathetic distance. She would call their relationship… 'cold, but mutually beneficial'. Of course they would be joining her in Slytherin. Maybe her calling the relationship to the people she'd known longer than anyone 'cold' was a sign she was better suited than she thought.

"Indeed.." she responded to Roland, who had the better command of English. Despite her German background, she had been raised in England and spoke clearly and with good diction, if a little coldly, unlike the other two who lived in France and Italy respectively. Roland muttered back to Maria in Italian, before responding "It's good to see some people with manners around here. Speaking of which..." he affirmed, before turning to Lucas, who stood behind Laila, subconsciously gripping her arm to not get lost in the crowd, "I can't imagine your behaviour is appreciated by Miss Faust." Lucas turned to face him, noticing him seemingly for the first time, and seemed to drill holes into the aristocrat with an eyeless glare, before whispering "If you... seem so concerned regarding her… we-wellbeing, then why don't you ask her?"

This certainly was a shock to Roland's system, having lived surrounded by yes men, which was Lucas' exact intent. He visibly retreated, as Maria took up the attack.

Vaffanculo! This is outrageous! You cannae…. You cannae touch her! Lai-la! Tell him!

She turned her hissing face to Roland, screaming more obscenities, allowing Laila a moment to turn back to back to her new friends, Tyler in his element with a large group surrounding him, Anna planning her entire future with a few close people from her youth, and Lucas standing by, giving a knowing nod back at her.

"Go on" he piped.

Before she could enquire further, a middle aged, stocky man with shoulder length black hair with a low fringe commanded the attention of the room, entering silently but suddenly the loudest person in the room. He walked through the now still crowd, as even Tyler and Anna quieted down. As he spoke in a deep, bassy voice, native to the north, he commanded the attention of the room with "Good evening, and welcome to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am your year head and Muggle Studies Professor, Mr Hagee. The other students are now assembled. Please make your ways inside quietly and wait to be sorted among the four houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Please, after me." he announced, before turning and waving his wand above his head grandiosely, opening the large doors to the Grand Hall. Laila had heard her uncles and father describe it when they spoke with her whenever the topic strayed from family matters, it would always go to Hogwarts. And it certainly lived up to any and all expectations, as everyone's heads were drawn upwards towards the clear night sky projected onto the roof, with the moon shining bright over the teachers row, which brought their eyes back to rest. Four rows of seats stretched from there back to them, with ornate decorations and classical carvings. They began to walk slowly up the aisle, Lucas holding close to Tyler and Anna, as they reached the far end. An elderly woman, with grey hair and a wooden cane at the centre of the row of teachers stood, and took position in front of a stand carved into the shape of an owl.

"Good evening" she began in an upper class English accent not unlike Laila's own. "I am Headmaster McGonagall. I look forward to your academic careers here at Hogwarts, and without further ado, let us get started with the sorting ceremony."

The ones who had heard what was about to happen began to shuffle in excitement as she read out the first name. "Roland Artois!"

The bulky, tanned boy walked up with a prideful step, no hesitation or lack of confidence as Lucas whispered to Anna and Tyler "What's going on?"

Tyler smiled to him, before resuming his running commentary "He's walking up to an old seat… she's putting an old worn hat on his head….."

A hush fell over the room, in anticipation, for nearly twenty seconds before the hat bellowed out "Slytherin!", causing a spontaneous round of applause from the green table, and a frightened jolt from Lucas at the unexpected yell. McGonagall smiled, before inviting the next student up. After a few students, the first of Laila's new friends was called up.

"Tyler Brown!"

[] [] [] - Tyler

Tyler walked up, head held high, up the steps towards the seat and hat. His smile was genuine, as he looked forward to what may happen. He turned and sat down into it, as he felt a weight fall onto his head, rough and

"Mmm…"

"Hullo?"

"My, we have an interesting case… certainly brave, but that isn't your prevailing quality, no, not at all. You care for others, even your enemies, and do your best to bridge the gap…."

"Carlisle…" He thought back to the incident that nearly got him arrested. It had been so plain, and even now thinking about it he refused to accept he was in the wrong in trying to help them. Why was there not a middle ground?

"You weren't. Don't doubt yourself. You are right more than you think. You certainly get your point across well. You often fail to see context, painting with a wide brush, with no nuance. Nonetheless, you host a lot of qualities, and can communicate between them to achieve your goals. It's a close call, but better be..."

The hat reared its head to announce "Hufflepuff!"

The room applauded, as Anna looked proud but disappointed, Lucas remained a mystery and Laila shook her head. Tyler himself was somewhat shook up, his minding reeling at the hats critique of him. Still, he managed to put on his strong face, as he seemingly always did. Anna had looked so sad, but Lucas was the wildcard.

As if the Headmaster could read minds, she announced "Lucas Beck!"

[] [] [] - Lucas

'Lucas Jacobson Beck..' he thought only half ironically as his mind went from testing the room with his feet, using the echoes of applause to sense the boundaries of the room, before turning his mind to navigating the stairs. He took a slow approach, testing the steps before applying pressure to them. Slowly but surely he moved towards the chair, placing his bony hands on the sides of the wooden seat, turning round to face the student body before sitting down. The seat was rough, even through the thick cloak, as he spread his hands onto the armrests unlike all the others before him. The hat was surprisingly light, and it fit very well, settling round the rim of his head. It whispered into his ear "Hmm…. despite your supposed mystique, you are surprisingly easy to read…"

He began to clam up, as the hat moved straight to his insecurities.

"You cover your pain through thought and value. Certainly not the worst coping method, but your introversion is your biggest obstacle. Not everyone's coming for your eyes…."

He bowed his head slightly, as the hat finished up by announcing, sounding unsurprised "Ravenclaw!"

One lane of the room broke into spontaneous applause, guiding him slowly to the far corner, as a student's hand brought him down to rest on the Ravenclaw bench. Wanting to catch up on time after the slow performance, McGonagall pressed her glasses at the bridge of her nose and continued "Anna Król!"

[] [] [] - Anna

The Pole followed up in her new friends footsteps, sitting down, putting on a confident face, but feeling like a nervous wreck. She stepped up to the plate, and on the hat went.

"So…."

She stiffed up in anticipation. She had been told that having your soul bared out in front of you in all its flaws was quite unnerving.

"Why are you holding yourself in? Putting a brave face on as it were... You have Gryffindors bravery, but discretion is the better part of valor. You don't know who you may be hurting. Still, better be..."

The hat yelled out "Gryffindor!"

With mixed emotions, she put the hat aside, and walked silently towards her table, thoughtful for the first time since boarding the train. As she sat onto her seat, the long awaited moment arrived, as McGonagall called out "Laila Faust!"

Anna held her breath in anticipation for her friend to join her at the table, as she had felt let down by both Tyler and Lucas's selections, as she held her arms close in hope. As the short girl stepped up to the seat and sat down. Laila immediately looked saddened and ashamed, and seemed to hold a conversation with the hat. Laila's eyes moved among her three friends, as did Anna's. With Laila holding a defeated expression, the hat announced to much fanfare "Slytherin!"

Anna reeled back in surprise. Laila walked down to a politely clapping Slytherin table, as she thought about their conversation.

"Both Gryffindors, right here!" Anna had responded instantly, causing Laila to move about awkwardly, and quietly agree. His brow furrowed as he seemed to focus in on Laila, seeming to sense the tension. He gave a slight smirk, as if acknowledging her issue, before chuckling softly "I guess we'll see."

She realised the hat was right. She made friends and stood up for those she knew, but didn't ask whether they wanted it.

Discretion is the better part of valor…


	2. Brave New World

Chapter 2 - Brave New World

[] [] [] – Lucas

Lucas woke to a thick, fresh bedspread, static piercing through the old dorm stereo, and a hand gripping his shoulder. Fretful, he turned away, and pressed his arms forward in an attempt to push the intruder away. A voice reached his ears, saying "Calm down man, just waking you up for class."

Somewhat perturbed, he made his slow way to his new uniform, aided by the other Ravenclaws in his room. Ravenclaw having multiple sleeping areas, one for late-night-readers to get peace, one for light-sleepers, and one for late talking. Each room was completely soundproof, and had multiple applications for in house activities. This however made navigation tricky, as sound was Lucas' main director. It took twenty minutes to get fully prepared for class, only learning of the irritating fact that it was only 6 in the morning after the older Ravenclaws assembled the first years for a bit of orientation. As it turned out, Ravenclaws were big fans of group projects, and made no small note of it. Describing it in great detail undoubtedly for his benefit, they described the Wall of Inquiry, where each leaving sixth year each year wrote up one question they had never solved, which the Ravenclaw students would try to solve it, scratching the answer into the wood beneath it. Most questions lasted a few years, bar one.

"Three gods A, B, and C are called, in no particular order, True, False, and Random. True always speaks truly, False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is a completely random matter. Your task is to determine the identities of A, B, and C by asking three yes-no questions; each question must be put to exactly one god. The gods understand English, but will answer all questions in their own language, in which the words for yes and no are da and ja, in some order. You do not know which word means which. A single god may be asked more than one question, questions are permitted to depend on the answers to earlier questions, and the nature of Random's response should be thought of as depending on the flip of a fair coin hidden in his brain: if the coin comes down heads, he speaks truly; if tails, falsely."

Lucas could almost snicker, as George Bollos' infamous puzzle had made it to the wizarding world. That sixth year was most likely a muggle born. He said nothing.

Eventually, they were let go to head to class, as Lucas wasted twenty minutes in front of the moving stairs, trying to work out if there was any discernable pattern to them, nearly died twelve times down the nonsensical stairs, making it to Muggle Studies with nothing damaged except his nerves. Shaken up even more than usual, he leant up against the wall, hands white with pressure.

Where the hell were the others?

[] [] [] – Laila

Laila conversely woke herself up, just past 5 o'clock in time to see the sun rise, however she took no time to admire it as she got dressed hurriedly. She had spent all of last night with her new housemates, and was at the end of her tether with the superiority complex of each individual student. They were all arrogant, putting on a pleasant face to all they were addressing. As she closed the door silently, grabbing a spare quill off a locker, she moved through the near silent dorm room, past two robed sixth years talking business, as she moved down the stairs into the main area. As she pushed open the doors into the common room, where there was a surprising number of people up. Slytherins are self motivated, but this was insane. Amongst the small crowd, she mentally groaned as the inseparable Maria and Roland raised themselves from two of the dozen armchairs next to the three hearths, forming an outwards facing ring. The room was homely, and seemed to be separated by the spaced out furniture, which was good for intrapersonal discussions, and the trading of secrets like a commodity.

Speaking of which..

"Lai-la!"

The European pair approached,as the sorting hat's words came back, as some of the elder Slytherins peered in to the three heirs. A good connection with the dominant one could prove very useful in the future.

From the lions den to the pack of wolves. When you're fresh meat, kill, and throw something fresher….

She recognised the line from House of Cards, one of the few muggle shows her family allowed in the house, given its excellent parallels to the system she was going to inherit. Who knew the Sorting Hat was so cultured?

Nonetheless, advice from something like that was usually sound, so she attempted to take the upper hand in the conversation. Asserting herself, raising her nose to compensate her shortness, she began "Good morning. Up early I see?" attempting to prove herself superior, as if the three of them were in a gladiatorial fight, with spectators galore. She caught Roland's eyes narrow slightly as he caught it, and they both knew what she was doing.

In the background, a shaggy fifth year sighed and handed his companion a twenty pound note. She could have laughed. Blood had already been spilled.

She pulled back slightly, catching herself in thought. She had been prepared to rip the pair apart with cold rhetoric, merciless in tearing their superior faces down. She would have been good at it. She would have enjoyed it.

She backed up, still not entirely willing to let the two go free despite herself, before making her way out. She shook her head in confusion at her own hostile attitude. As she began navigating the stairs, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her face back towards the smiling face of another fourth year Slytherin, with slicked, silver hair with two bangs over the left eye, rich blue eyes that were near shut, complementing his smile. He began in a kind, nurturing voice "Hi there. Laila right?"

She could have rolled her eyes if it weren't so rude, but there was something else. He was playing his own games, like everyone else. She couldn't blame him for wanting to move up in the world, even if it was debatably awkward. She perked her face, and replied "Yes? Do you need something?", attempting to balance the valuable offer of help with the need to be dominant despite the age gap. He responded with a smirk and "Nonsense Miss Faust. Just offering a helping hand is all. I would consider it. The names Ricard, Ricard Lutece."

She nodded her appreciation, as she replied "I may just have to take you up on that sometime. Nonetheless, I have class soon, and would like to get breakfast over and done with as quickly as possible." Ricard nodded respectfully, before withdrawing, with a simple "I never forget my promises. I know the same goes for your family Miss Faust."

Slightly unnerved by that experience, she descended the stairs to the great hall, where every meal imaginable lay along each house table. She sat near an empty space, still not on pleasant ground with most other Slytherins, as she picked slowly away at a Full English breakfast. Faust this, Faust that. Her worst enemy was her greatest advantage, but she knew the real face of the family better than anybody. Born into the prestigious house of Faust, Laila was conceived by Clarisse and Raymond Faust. Being born a cesarean, and premature at that, Laila was smaller than average. This was quite worrying for the Fausts, as premature babies tended to not last too long.

Their worries were mitigated by Laila's miraculous growth rate. She hit the age of 1 with next to no troubles, besides being worthy of Godric Gryffindor's respect by trying to lift an imperial sword at least six times her size when she was a crawling toddler.

Growing up as a noble pureblood was no easy feat, owing to the fact that she wasn't allowed to have too many friends. Whatever "friends" she had were all only around due to her wealth and status. She could see their sucking up to her quite easily. One thing different about the Faust lineage was that they practiced humility. Unlike the other pureblood kids, Laila was taught never to look down on half-bloods, muggleborns, muggles or squibs, and to show all of them the same level of respect. But that's as far as it went, since interaction was still a taboo. She was trained from an extremely young age on how to handle herself, but her completely non-elitist nature had earned her quite a few sneers from relatives. She'd been dubbed "weak" and "unmotivated" by people like her uncle Thomas and grandmother Angela.

At age 3, Laila disobeyed her parents for the first time. She'd moved towards the family's heirloom : A soulbound wand. This wand had killed Laila's aunt, it had killed a lot of people. It did so by scanning through the soul of its wielder, establishing a bond on a spiritual level with him or her. If the contractor were deemed unworthy, their soul would be ripped straight out of them, like a Dementor's kiss did. She took the wand in her hand.

The tender three year old with "pure" intentions won the ancient relic over. Instead of getting reprimanded like she'd expected when her father had found out, Laila was greeted by an embrace filled with pride. Of course, some more malignant members of the family were quite indignant of the matter even to this day.

Unfortunately, for being in such a precarious position, there were plenty of other potential influences on the budding heiress including said uncle and grandmother, the former manipulative and the latter truly sadistic, if now restrained to her room by the doctor. Thomas had upped and left for a job in the ministry, leaving her with increasingly absent parents.

By now, having inferred for the better part of twenty minutes, she had achieved two things; an empty plate, and a crowd. Unsure whether to clean up or not, she left both of them behind, as she made her way to her class, surprised to see Lucas of all people had beaten her there. His head perked to the footsteps, and he gave a smile in her direction, before asking "Who's there?"

She backed up in shock, wondering briefly how he could not recognise her, before reminding herself he couldn't see him. He saw everything the same, with no biases. "It's me… Laila.." His face further lit up as he recognised the voice "Good morning!" he wheezed, enthusiastically stepping forward to greet her.

"Why are you so early?" she asked, confused, until a groan from his stomach interrupted. She looked up at the guilty face, and laid into it.

"Why didn't you get breakfast! You need to take care of yourself, you have all the food in the world, it's literally magic! Whats wrong with you? You can't do that! You need food to survive, you idiot!"

The both of them were taken aback by her ferocity in reaffirming his need for sustenance, as both their minds got to work at the surprising outburst. Laila poured through her mind as to what possessed her to go off on such a topic. She looked at him, and while he was visually recoiled, he did not look surprised, only frowning in distaste. Did he even feel emotion?

"Laila?" a male voice rose from their left.

[] [] [] – Tyler

Hufflepuff, for all its reputation as weak, certainly knew how to make a comfortable common room. Unlike the others, which were brick, this was a homely wooden room, with a wood burning stove in the centre, for people to share late night snacks during the all too common parties, which were not unique to Hufflepuff, but theirs were unique in not only atmosphere, but it was open invitation to all houses. This was a theme for house activities, but not many attended, which was a rotten shame given the warm, inviting nature of the rooms. Unlike the other houses, all the Hufflepuffs slept in one, large room, spiralling round in ledges so everyone could see everyone. There was rarely any hate among house, unlike the others, as they uniquely recognised fighting with themselves didn't help anything.

He ran his hand through his thick ginger hair, tired after a long night. As he moved down the vertical hallway, which placed first years near the bottom to ease them into the stairs system, as the elders moved up with their growing responsibilities, sharing the load equally, he sighed as he exited past the jubilant hubbub of activity, as he still thought about last night. His mother had been a Gryffindor, but what was-#

BWOOF!

While deep in thought, walking down the halls, he'd barged into another Hufflepuff, another first year with frizzy thick blonde hair and her body stretched up to not quite 5 feet, unsure of where she was going. He was abnormally tall and mature looking for his age, and she looked intimidated. Instantly transitioning to his charismatic self, he knelt down and comforted her, masterfully apologising and helping her up. He helped her to the main hall, and by the end of breakfast, he and this girl, named Milly, were already fast friends, as they embarked just in time to catch the whirlwind of anger coming from Laila.

"You need to take care of yourself, you have all the food in the world, it's literally magic! Whats wrong with you? You can't do that! You need food to survive, you idiot!"

She seemed to catch her breath, as Lucas gave no response, or even admission of shock. That didn't stop Tyler, as he nearly fell over as the formerly quiet girl struck out in wrath at her friend, whispering "Laila…", catching both their attention. He responded just as virulently once he got over his surprise, shouting "Why did you do that? He doesn't need that on his first bloody day! Calm down, and let's not get all up in a huff about who forgot breakfast of all things!"

He also calmed, as Lucas' nonchalant look made them all wonder if he was deaf as well as blind. But eventually he spoke up in his croaking, hushed voice. "I forgot about breakfast Laila, because unlike some people I am still not used to the idea of a regularly guaranteed and scheduled breakfast. Forgive me that transgression, but as Tyler reaffirmed, there are more pressing matters. I've lived twelve years, I'm sure another day won't hurt. No point rushing."

His calm tones defused the room, even as he admitted horrible things that by all right should have the pair of them even more concerned. Where was this guy from? No eyes, arrived on the train in a hospital gown with not a scrap of extra weight from head to toe, now this? The truth eventually sank in that while he was well articulated, he didn't lie very well, which was made worse by the fact that this obviously wasn't one, with the unremarkable manner in which he'd let it slip. Tyler was of course the first to catch himself, with his voice turning itself on Lucas.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was hardly subtle."

"You know that's not-"

"Enough."

Laila, suddenly arbiter, intervened, even though interestingly neither party raised their voices, as she recognised no one stood to gain from a fight, and Milly was beginning to cry. Tyler halted, though the less socially aware Lucas still scowled at Tyler through his blindfold he continued to wear. He tried to signal to Laila with his hands to portray his frustration at Lucas' irrational argumentative mood. Laila nodded understandably as Tyler sighed again, before an awkward silence permeated the crowd. Shortly after, Milly piped up "Ty?"

Putting off his simmering anger, he sweetly replied "Yea? What's up?"

"Where is everyone? Is there meant to be a class…"

"They'll be here in a minute, don't worry. Trust me, I know."

A lie, but it reassured Milly, even if it lowered Lucas' brow further. He evidently didn't approve, but did not voice any grievances. As if to highlight the point, a few students voices echoed down the hall, led by the unmistakable high pitched voice of Gryffindors new firebrand"

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOODD MORNING!"

[] [] [] - Anna

The energetic Pole uncharacteristically woke late, after a night of talking to her new housemates. They were nice, but she missed Tyler and Laila, and even some of Lucas' dry humour. She had thought a lot about last night, and Laila's sorting had been on her mind. She wasn't concerned about whether she was good, but her own behaviour. She was horrible to her, and felt horrible about it. She had probably made her feel so bad, especially given how unsurprised she had been at her appointment. She lay on her bed, thinking, as a face appeared over her resting body.

"Wakey-wakey!"

Her face fell, as the one thing that was able to drop his mood appeared into view.

Her bloody older brother.

The tall, stick thin fifth year leant over her with his hands in pockets, as he teasingly poked her in the forehead, before smiling "Come on, rise and shine sleepyhead!"

"Good morning Georg…" she groaned. She didn't hate her brother, although he did get annoying, but not to the extent of her family was. Not quite in the way Laila's probably was, with their promp, circumstance and old fashioned manners, but more.. traditional attitudes to other things. He dragged her out of her beds with a thump as she hit the wooden floor, as he ruffled her hair.

"WHY?" she screamed between being assaulted from under her duvet.

He laughed "Because you're awake now, aren't you?"

He always did this, excusing his teasing with getting her to do things, even if he wasn't wrong. Of course, when it scaled up, it wasn't so benign. She always grew outraged and red faced, to the amusement of her , the short girl didn't find it funny. She sighed as she shooed him away to get dressed, as she shook her head in frustration. She pulled her cloak over her short, choppy hair, before exiting into the warm common room, seeing the chatter about the room, and joining in with boundless cheer, if not skill or nuance.

After familiarizing herself with her housemates, she followed her brother down to the main hall, much to her own protests.

"C'mon, quit it!" she shrieked as Georg teasingly twirled her short, but fine hair around his finger, almost deliberately attempting to get a rise out of her.

"What's the problem?" he mocked meanly, before backing into a tall, imposing figure. Just as Georg turned to lay into the person, he suddenly stopped, and stood straight. As Anna pushed past to see, she was greeted by the imposing figure of Mr Hagee, looking even more disdainful than usual, as he glared down the normally insurmountable Georg with ease. The man sighed, before inflicting wrath.

"My muggles studies class begins in 30 minutes, indeed for your sister Anna and her year. It has been a long summer without cleaning, wouldn't you agree?"

The poor teen sighed, and said "I'll get on that sir."

Unfortunately, the poor teen came complete with an angry sibling "OI! Who do you think you are, he just knocked into you! What's your problem?"

Hagee smirked, replying smoothly "As to the former, I am Mark Hagee, Slytherin house head and your muggles studies teacher. As to my problem, I'm struggling with making it a day without taking Gryffindors points away. Thank you, that'll be ten in Day one!"

She winced as Georg gave a piercing glare, as he departed to begin his punishment, leaving her with the Slytherin housemaster.

"Quite an outburst. Perhaps you'll be more agreeable in class with some food?" he politely stated, ending it with a rhetorical question. He'd only had resistance from Georg once, and since then he had always withered under the teacher. Anna surprised him by replying "Rubbish. He did nothing wrong, and you just punished him to spite him. That's not ok!"

Caught off guard, Hagee almost forgot to laugh.

Almost.

"BFWAHAHAHAAAHHAA!" the teacher roared, loudly enough to draw attention from three storeys in both directions, drawing eyes from all angles. "Ohhhh… I'll have to remember that.. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" he asked in between his deep, bellowing chuckles.

"Anna Król!" she responded at his volume, sending waves throughout the stairs.

The teacher's chuckling grew quiet, as he shut his eyes and leaned his head down, smiling like he'd never smiled before.

"I see… heh.. have a nice day Anna.."

He left on that note, ascending the stairs behind her, leaving her to ponder on that thought.

She shook her head in confusion, as she watched Mr Hagee disappeared upwards, to be replaced by mute first year Gryffindors.

"What's up?" she asked, concerned at their unusual silence.

"You…" they silently stuttered "Just made the biggest mistake of your life.."

She shook her head "Nah.."

[] [] [] - Anna

"and I'll tell you, that Hagee is fuuuuullllllll of nonsense. He's all talk. Dude, chill out. Ma- oh god, we're late… there's just… oh wait, GOOOOOOOOOOOOODD MORNING!" she chattered, laughed, and finally roared, causing the normally calm Lucas to recoil spectacularly, nearly clattering into Tyler in uncharacteristically over the top shock, causing laughter from Tyler, Laila and Milly after a brief pause.

"WHAT THE HELL?" he screamed in a rare show of unfiltered emotion, namely terror.

"It's just Anna.." Tyler himed helpfully as he was being smothered by the blind Ravenclaw. As he failed to move, he sighed before pushing Lucas off him as the others giggled. "Right…" he replied. "Just Anna..."

Anna smiled as she saw her friends unwind. They had looked stressed, so she was glad to see them happy. She came up to them as more first years entered the area.

"Hey Ty! You alright Lucas? Good to hear.. hi Lai-"

She stopped herself, as she reflected again on what she had said to Laila last night. She had almost certainly hurt her feelings, if she knew her own standards. She felt horrible.

"Laila…"

Laila head perked up towards her, as she stared back for the first time, with seemingly no distractions. Her brow furrowed, as if she was calculating something… no, she was obviously just thinking about it, she thought.

"I forgive you Anna." Laila said finally, much to Anna's obvious relief. "Buuuutt…"

Anna's face instantly fell, as she considered the possibilities of retribution. Her experiences with Georg's twisted justice. What could she have in mind?

A sickly sweet smile rose on her face as a shadow cast itself over her.

"I'm not bailing you out from him."

"Good morning Miss Faust, hello again Anna."

Anna gulped as she turned to face the towering man.

"Good morning Mr Hagee…."

She glared back at Laila's smile. She mouthed "I hate you." At the black haired girl, much to her and Ty's amusement, though Lucas was clueless as ever. She sighed, as Hagee let them all into his room. It was annoyingly familiar, with regular desks and chairs, with posters and bleak, square windows like a regular class, a major let down.

Lucas raised his eyebrows towards his three friends as he felt his way through the room. Anna sighed and said "It's just a muggle classroom. Just take a seat."

There was a collective sigh of disappointment at Anna verbalising their sentiment, before it was hushed as the head of Slytherin moved to the top of the room.

"Please SIT DOWN. Yes Lucas, that is a chair. To the left. Too far. Now you've spilt ink everywhere. Down… there. Now.." he began, sighing as he contemplated his dark future with this class. "Now, as you all are aware I am your Muggle Studies professor, and Slytherin House head. My classroom will be very familiar to those of you who attended Muggle schools, because in this class we will be examining those who live without magic, their culture, and their alternative methods of sustaining their livelihoods and technologies. Anna, would you mind handing out the textbooks?"

As she grumpily stood up and grabbed the tall pile of books, as he continued. "As such, there will be no spells, charms, or other magical applications in my class." He paused again as Anna returned to her seat, before resuming. "Now please open your books to page six, and Anna? Would you mind reading from the top."

Anna felt furious at the figure at the head of the room, as he seemed to be picking on her. She looked to either side of her briefly, as she took in the mood of the room. Lucas looked deep in thought, which was par for the course, Laila seemed cross but was masking it well, and Tyler was more openly concerned, but not angry. She herself was fuming, and with no hiding her mood, she read out "Muggle History; The history of the muggles has largely been determined by a need to innovate in the face of conflict, with technologies based around the laws of nature that do not pertain to the magical world, as the historical arms race from arrow to the nuclear pinnacle, and the social and economic circumstances surrounding it is the topic of this chapter… what the hell does any of this mean?" She concluded, as the room sat silent, surveying the paper, except for Laila and to a more subdued extent Lucas. From what she could tell, while he was smart, his general knowledge was lacking, but his concealed puzzlement spoke volumes for the what the rest of the room felt. Laila was just well educated, but that was certainly not the consensus, however Anna realised too late that voicing this sentiment had made her a target.

The teacher smiled, before coming over to her desk. "Having trouble?"

She sighed. This was going to be a long seven years.

 **Thank you for reading! Please take the time to review. One thing before I go, is that is is already finished; I have written this entire story, and am publishing it over time, a chapter every 3 days or so. The final product has 50000 words and 16 chapters. I would appreciate anyone sharing this around, and once again, thank you.**

 **~Eth0**


	3. Life Hacks

Chapter 3: Communication

[] [] [] – Tyler

A shallow hush fell over the great hall, as this year with every year the House trophy was to be handed out. To keep up suspense towards the event, points awarded for sports were to be kept in the dark, announced during the ceremony, completely altering who could win. Tyler along with all the Hufflepuffs were at the edge of his seat, as the Headmaster McGonagall took the stage.

"Good evening students! As we draw to the conclusion of another year, it is the time for us to congratulate and celebrate the ones who have worked the hardest over the school terms!"

There was a smattering of applause, but the main event was still anticipated. Tyler was still waiting, eyes fixated on the podium in front.

"Now, first, the academic awards. In the highest average test scores…" she built up. "Slytherin! 100 points."

One quarter of the hall erupted into applause as the hourglass whirred into life, as the magical sand fell down into the gourd, as the number grew from 520 to 620, which now put them in the lead, 20 points above Gryffindor. Hufflepuff was close third with 590, and Ravenclaw were dead last with 480. They had the least amount of deductions due to misbehaviour, but could never get off their arses enough outside their common room to bother to gather points. He'd actually brought up the topic with Lucas, and instantly regretted it.

"I don't honestly see the point to it. The reward generally prefers a certain mindset towards uniform behaviour, and I don't see why…."

He shuddered in terror as he thought back to that one sided conversation. Tyler was well versed in making concise points, but while Lucas was certainly smarter, he tended to waffle on to the point of boredom. As the applause died down, the headmaster resumed.

"For victory of the Quidditch cup, Hufflepuff has earned 50 points!"

For this, Tyler and his whole table rose and gave this a standing ovation. The last match had gone down to Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff in the typical Scottish rain, as Ty could remember the intense match, as after 6 hours Gryffindor caught the snitch, but due to a miscommunication between the Gryffindor seeker Georg, who he recalled was Annas brother and got an earful from her afterwards, and everyone else, he'd made the mistake of letting Hufflepuff win on points. He passionately whooped as the ceremonious chatter died down again. She resumed "Finally, before we count scores, we must give out points for individual achievement."

The hall was now eerily quiet, as the numbers around the sand timers vanished, and she recited the students names, giving 5 points each. After a few minutes of this when even the Ravenclaws had stopped counting, she smiled and finished up.

"Laila Faust."

The corresponding girl frowned, as Tyler thought. She was generally quiet, insightful but certainly not very active in class. Still, she respectfully bowed and he thought nothing more of it.

As the room looked up for the final announcement, McGonagall smirked, but Tyler noted it wasn't her usual confident smirk, as she announced.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The hall suddenly flocked green, as the snake logo slithered across the bannering, painting it in its signature colors, much to the dismay of the other three tables. Hagee smirked as he took a drink, before hurriedly pulling out his smartphone to reply to a message. Dismayed, Tyler and company dug into their dinner on their last evening in Hogwarts.

[] [] [] – Anna

Anna and Tyler had become firm friends over the school year, and the pair had chatted all the way down from the boats to the train. Tyler had been a major help in Muggle Studies, and now Hagee was bearable, though he seemed to spend more time writing privately then teaching. The bustling crowd ranged from excited as it did back at the beginning of the year, but there was also some downcast faces. One of which that Anna spotted in the crowd was Laila, who had grown isolated, much to Anna's dismay.

"Laila?"

Laila looked up, and gave a slight smile. Anna was glad to see her smile. After the first few weeks of moping, Laila had begun to chat with her new friends outside the house, though there had been a recent lull in her happiness as the holidays drew near. Concerned, Anna asked "Are you alright?"

Laila was no Tyler, and thus wasn't as good as hiding her feelings, but Anna could tell she was trying.

"Fine.." Laila replied quietly, which concerned Anna further, but she dropped it, replying "Alright, want to join us on the train?"

She nodded, and her smile grew. She followed them on, boarding the train to the sound of a loud thud.

The thud was followed by several cheers, as they rushed inside the train to see what was happening. They beat the crowd to the train hall area, where the scene was developing. Several tall fourth years stood above a short figure obscured by their backs, who was the likely victim of said thud. The older students were goading their victim, though interestingly they heard no response.

"Get up you pikey!" The tallest bully roared, holding his wand above his head. Upon hearing no response, he dropped it and called out "Crucio!"

"STOP!" Anna cried, but the show wasn't stopping. There was little noise beyond the grunting of the unfortunate victim, hissing in grating tones from the floor, refusing to speak. Anna was horrified, having heard of the Cruciatus curse from her grandparents who had lived under the first Reign of the dark Lords terror, and her parents who had fought him. Whoever that was must be going through hell. Just as she was about to step into action and grab her wand, Laila brushed her away and simply said "Stand aside."

After a brief pause, one of them seemed to recognise the voice, and turned. Anna didn't recognise the white haired boy, but Laila apparently did.

"Ricard…" she whispered, as Anna looked backwards and forwards between the two. Laila composed herself, and as even the ringleader turned to look, she said "Stop this at once and leave.", in a cold, calculating tone. The gang, two Slytherins and a Gryffindor, departed, leaving their victim open for all to see.

It was Lucas.

The blind Welshman lay in the foetal position on the hallway floor, head looking upwards as if he was taking in the world for the first time. Anna moved down to him, cradling the shaken boy and saying "It's alright, it's okay, you're fine." as he took in her voice, but didn't respond. Tyler spoke up from his position and asked "Are you alright?", to no response again. They brought him inside a cabin, and Laila stated calmly "They're gone now."

Lucas finally nodded shakily, before thanking them all. There was a brief silence, before he finally spoke up again.

"I guess we've at least got the band back together, eh?"

The joke got a chuckle from Tyler, though Anna didn't get the reference. He still wasn't himself as his wisecracks usually came out with more confidence, though a lack of confidence was understandable. The point was sound at least, as this was the first time they had been together since their first day. She nodded, almost forgetting he couldn't see it, before she said "You need water, you're sweating like a pig."

"Pigs actually don't sweat."

"Thank you Lucas. Aquamenti."

The spell largely fell into a waiting beaker, with a little spill. She passed it over, and as he sipped, Anna's curiosity got the better of her, as she asked "They called you a pikey… what does that mean?"

The reaction on Lucas's end was immediate. He choked on his water, coughing up half a lung before his blindfold stared into her soul. It was actually quite terrifying. Laila seemed equally curious to anyone who knew her well enough, but masked it well, and Tyler just seemed angry at Anna.

"A pikey." He finally said, slowly, and sardonically. "Is a derogatory term for a member of the Travelling community, a group of people who live out of caravans. Romanies, gypsies, what have you."

The cabin was silent as the toxicity of his manner of speech lay bare Anna, as she sat back. That certainly was revealing, but something didn't add up. He had arrived on the train injured and in a hospital gown, and seemed unfamiliar with blindness. Over the course of the year, Lucas had become adept at walking based on sound, so evidently he hadn't been blind very long. There was something missing, as a traveller would probably not have access to proper healthcare. Still, no one asked any further questions from then until the Scottish border, before Tyler reopened the conversation.

"So, what have you guys been up to? As Lucas said, it's been awhile since we've met up."

Thanking Tyler mentally, she said "I've been having fun with my house, there's plenty of prank fodder and warfare in the common room. It's a miracle anyone gets work done. Every other day I think a bombs gone off." She chuckled at the memories of cleaning out her stuff from soot bombs.

Working off her momentum, Tyler relieved her and replied "We just relax and chat. A bunch of muggle borns bewitched some tablets, and we binge on shows while chatting and not really watching. Everyone's really friendly."

Lucas sighed, and finally spoke up, however reluctantly. "In Ravenclaw, we.. we will sometimes go out.. Onto the roof, and learn muggle astronomy. I can't see it, but the descriptions and stories.. are fascinating. That's par for the course, just talking about ideas. I believe Socrates had something to say on the matter"

He concluded with a dark chuckle, and to Anna's overwhelming joy he posed a question. "So where are you all going for the summer?" in his quiet, frail voice.

Anna leapt on this opportunity. "I'm going back home, I'm spending the summer in Poland with Georg and the family. What about you Laila?" She asked, trying to bring the other introvert into the conversation.

Laila looked cross, but replied "I'm staying in a penthouse in London."

[] [] [] – Laila

Platform 9 and 3/4s had long been realised as the liability it was, and had since been replaced by a more traditional entrance that drew less suspicion, as well as a series of floo fireplaces to diffuse people traffic. Lucas's sonar didn't like the loud volume, and after slamming into the brick walls multiple times, Tyler and Anna had come to his aid, escorting him out, much to his amusing disgruntlement. Laila sighed as she watched them depart, before reflecting on why she had been dour the last few days. It was largely the same reason she was down at the beginning of the year.

Her family name.

The young Faust sighed as she grabbed a fistful of floo dust, and stepped into the hollow in the wall. Shutting her eyes tight, she whispered "16 Ilchester Place, London.", and gasped slightly as she disappeared into nothingness.

Reconstituting in the eighth most expensive street in London, she realised she was alone, and breathed a sigh of relief, as most of the family was probably in Germany, trying to get into her grandmother's will. She went into the living room and called a maid. When none arrived, she groaned and went about the business of making toast, before she got some sleep from the long two days. But as the toaster pinged, she heard footsteps downstairs. Laila froze, hearing a conversation from a floor below, and she tiptoed down to listen.

"Are you sure we're all good here?"

"Absolutely certain my friend, everyone's in Bayern, and Laila won't be here for a while."

This was interesting. This person was either in the family or knew them well. There was no trace of an accent.

"Good to hear my friend."

Curiouser and curiouser.

"Thank you minister, please, sit down."

MINISTER?

"Please, call me Friedrich."

MINISTER? The current minister for magic was called Friedrich Weber, who was retiring in three years, but who the hell would invite HIM here?

"Alright, Friedrich, now lets begin…"

As she approached closer and closer, the voices grew more distinct, but neither held much accent. She looked in the door as she saw the MINISTER FOR MAGIC!

Well how about that…

But from this angle, she couldn't see the other man, until the Minister spoke up.

"Thomas… I don't believe we're alone."

As Laila came into view, the back of the head that had been holding a conversation with the rotund, balding Minister, the raven haired, slim man turned to face her, and the pieces fell into place.

"Thomas."

Thomas Faust, 2nd uncle and professional asshole to her for most of her youth whenever Grandmother was in sight, who was pursuing a career in politics.

"Was machst du hier?" He asked.

"Ich habe aus der Schule kommen. Ich dachte du in Bayern wart?"

"Ja, ich habe gerade wieder kommen. Ich bin hier fur arbeit."

"Du hast gut gemacht, du hast die Minister."

"Danke schön, aber es ist privat. Sich mussen in dein Zimmer geh."

She sighed, as she nodded in resignation. Thomas was all too frequently jockeying for position. Interestingly, he was the family's only Ravenclaw, which was curious, but politically convenient in terms of legitimacy, and raising eyebrows, which it also did within the family. Still, the experience sucking up to populism within the family had apparently served him well. She grabbed her toast and hit the bed.

[] [] [] – Lucas

Life hack: Be best friends with a Slytherin. They will steal cupcakes for you from work and tell you to drop toxic people from your life with no reservations. They will be the ones ordering you to stop and breathe and call in sick, to screw your commitments if they see you're sacrificing your mental health. They're the ones to say "don't you dare settle" and "you deserve better" in a ruthless, matter-of-fact tone. They'll be the ones saying it's okay to put yourself first, the voice you need to hear after a long day or week or month.

It had been a long while since Lucas read that back in second year, and his circle's resident Slytherin had not let up. She was on all their cases constantly, with their work habits, his swearing, Anna's hyperactive destruction, and Tyler's lecturing.

It was early morning, on a wet February day. There was a tired mood about the school this weekend, as people were getting up out of bed. Anyone determined enough to haul themselves down to the library were greeted with a swearing Welshman.

"FACK!"

'For your project, if you handed out twenty horseshoes, twenty four leaf clovers with a further twenty people without as a control, what could be your measures of centre, averages, and...'

Lucas sighed as he ran his finger along the Braille page and sweat-dropped. This was going to be a long day.

Footsteps...

His ears pricked up at the sound of company, and he stopped his finger on the word measures. Most unfortunate enough to pick today to study had evacuated to the far corners of the hall, despite the only books housed down there being muggle studies. The thought that he was making the bullying pricks read muggle literature amused him. He really needed to do this more often. But back to company, a…. girl, perhaps a little younger than him providing she was roughly an average build, which her shoe size told him she was. She cou-"Lucas."

He froze, sensing his oncoming doom like a wrecking ball approaching from dead ahead.

"Good morning Laila…"

There was a brief silence, before Laila hissed "What… are… you… doing?"

He mumbled fearfully "Project on lucky items... hand them out and test people's luck." He broke into a sweat as she took her time responding. The fact he couldn't see probably made it even scarier, in that he couldn't see his fate coming.

"I can hear you from the Great Hall. Explain."

Aahhhhh….

"I hate probability."

Not a lie. Leaving a solution to chance was totally nonsensical, but simultaneously intrinsic to the problem, he believed. It wasn't even hard, it was just basic control testing, if he got ten people from the school to roll dice a few times, and gave them a coin for every number facing once with and once without a horseshoe, he'd only have to count the coins. But that meant legwork, which was a drag.

"That's not an excuse. Try harder."

He groaned, before turning to "face" her. He sighed, as she was almost as stubborn as him, as she sat beside him. He heard her voice ring "I'm not telling you to shut up, that's the librarian's job, but for Gods sakes, you're our resident genius, try harder. It can't be that hard."

He would have happily rolled his eyes. "It's not difficult… there's a similar muggle question, in a bag with 5 blue and 1 red ball, what is the chance the ball you pick is red. It's just boring. Honestly, it's absurd. I've got to go out and do this with OTHER people, and go out, and do shit…"

He heard laughter, quickly frowning as he caught on to the fact she was mocking him.

"Well you're doing a great job attracting candidates, what with your shouting."

"Yeah." he replied. "And don't worry, as long as I've got them squirming through Tolkien it's worth the effort."

He smirked as right on cue, a Fifth year Slytherin across the room grunted at the concept of Elves and Dwarves, but there was no chance they could study in peace anywhere except the muggle literature section at the opposite end of the room. He basked in his brief satisfaction, before reminding himself he was going to pay for that.

She paused briefly, before realizing what had happened. She promptly laughed, before echoing his thoughts. "You're going to pay for that. You're already the talk of Slytherin house." She finished, somewhat seriously. "You need more friends."

"Having a few good friends is better than having a thousand fake ones.

Ignoring his quoting, she replied "I trust my friends. That's why I have a lot of friends."

"Correction, you have a lot of friends because of your surname."

"The fact that you would make that point says something as to why your circle of friends is so small."

"Then why are you continuing the conversation?"

"I'm humouring you."

"Then are you not my friend? Are you saying your own judgement is flawed?"

She paused, realizing she had been beaten. Lucas smiled, and gloated "You're never going to win this game with that performance you know."

She didn't reply, because he was right. This back and forth game was never going to get old, despite getting more brutally honest over time, to the point that they scraped at each others souls. But neither minded a bit of harsh truths, as it helped them improve.

"Speaking of which…" she began in a tone that worried him. "This doesn't get you out of work."

He nodded glumly, before sighing, and seeking a fresh angle of escape.

"Have you had breakfast?"

Another pause, and he could almost hear her brow furrowing as she saw through him. "Really?"

Pushing his luck, he replied "Yep.", with no audible irony. When he heard no response, he flashed a sly smile in victory.

He put his braille textbook away by hand, a quaint habit, before motioning to the door with his head in a surprisingly nice manner. "Alright then!"

He knew the floor quite well, so kept pace up past the exit and onto the stone floor in the halls. A few more people were up, and most were within their self contained little spheres. Of course, some weren't, and were very inventive in how many gestures they could throw in his direction while he was within their line of sight. Of course, he would never know.

"So," She kick started a topic for conversation as they headed down the hallways to reach the mess hall. "What's the story with all those uncouth commoners picking on you? Are they still on you?"

"Well I can't say my response has helped much." He replied nonchalantly, smiling with some self satisfaction. "As to the origin, I wouldn't credit most of these people with the mental ability to invent a reason beyond what their friend does. It's like dominoes, except a whole lot more _fun._ You already know their EXCUSE."

She nodded, before catching herself and giving a verbal confirmation. "Alright, I see."

"Do you?" He replied as they reached the stairs, still smiling gently. "Am I right in remembering you are from a family of certain… status?"

Another pause told him not only was he right, he was encroaching on some sort of boundary. Not that he cared. "Because, from what you've said, you seem familiar with the Slytherins, an exclusive group, yet you don't hold yourself like one. That, and your outrage at my treatment shows a slightly isolated upbringing, no offence, which could be brought about by an old, pure-blood family. If my hunch was right, I was going to draw a comparison between your upbringing and mine. I'm not suggesting you subscribe to any of that nonsense, or else this conversation would not be happening. Again, I'm not accusing you of anything."

She stopped at his cutting hypothesis, before she did something he didn't count on.

She laughed.

He wasn't sure what to interject with for possibly the first time in his Hogwarts career. As her chuckling trailed into silence, she finally replied.

"My turn."

His face screwed up in confusion, before relaxing as he caught on. "Try your worst."

"Alright." She began. "You've already admitted a fair bit, and as Anna admitted to me last year, it's very likely you hadn't been blind for very long, considering your maneuverability then compared to even a few weeks later, and she felt the hospital gown was another clue. I disagree, as it's unlikely you would get into a private hospital with your background, no offence, so what? Perhaps another issue? After some thinking, I happened across the idea of the reaction of your parents to a letter they may very well believe, or your claims of having received such a letter. Incredulity, _fear_." His face confirmed it. "I suspect you were in hospital because they felt you were too much to deal with, or were having mental difficulties, some of which may contribute to your… aggression."

His eyebrow was not visible, but the ruffling of his blindfold said enough. "Aggressive?"

She reavaluated, before amending with "Insecure, or perhaps more passive aggressive. Whatever you deem it, you can't deny that you more often default to hostile, mm?"

He shrugged. "This is your evaluation, not mine."

She huffed, before continuing "Also, this happened shortly before you arrived, given you got here in a hospital gown, further pointing to the letter being the problem. That's all I have for now. The only flaw I see is where do you go during the holidays. How'd I do?"

Before he could answer, he was interrupted by the hubbub of activity, coming from the Great Hall as they approached.

"See you…" she said sadly, confusing him as he followed her over to her table. This caused heads to roll, not least hers, as she hissed. "WHATTHEBLOODYHELLAREYOUDOING?"

Nonplussed, he asked "What?"

"YOUCAN'TSITHERE!"

"Says who?"

"...THETEACHERS!"

"Do you see any teachers?"

"..."

"I rest my case." He concluded, before tucking into poached eggs, as if nothing happened. As he ate, he began his story.

"You were somewhat right. I was born in Wales to two travellers out in the sticks. These are your isolated, pagan backwards people living in tents and caravans you see on TV, when they get a bit too close for comfort to your precious towns and offices. My passive aggression came from years of living like this, and I picked more than my fair share of fights back in the day. This bunch lived off the side of the main road, but my story didn't begin until I went blind. The day was hot, and I was making a rare venture into town, when I was jumped. After a brief scuffle, I was stabbed in the face and the stomach. I was of course taken to hospital, and my parents arrived later, but the man had destroyed, damn near gouged my eyes out. I wasn't sent to hospital for this as you guessed, not getting any treatment even after it became infected, which is why magic can't fix it.

The letter came the next morning, and he could hear his parents gasp, indeed now he could just see it. They dropped the letter and left the room. I picked it up, and because it was impressionist ink, I could feel the bulge where there was writing. I was thrilled, but also scared. How could I get to London? Then I remembered something.

How would my parents, who believe in all this, react?

The answer came minutes later, as I was put in the back of a ambulance and brought to a mental hospice outside Oxford. Lets just say they weren't to kindly.

Nevertheless, I was blind, and therefore put in a low security room. I escaped, and outside, a man was waiting. He introduced himself as Hagee, and said he would help me get to the train station, where I could tag along with the others. Admittedly in mental hospital clothes, but I wasn't in a mood to be picky. Still, you got the main points."

As he finished, you could hear a pin drop in the Slytherin table.

[] [] [] - Tyler

Later that year, deep into summer Tyler stood alone above the bridge, taking in the orange haze of sunset on his last few days in Hogwarts. He reflected on his year, which largely consisted of listening to Laila and Lucas argue, Anna bitch about Hagee, and his house busy at work. The phrase "Hufflepuffs do things, everyone else is just pretentious." was fairly accurate, if insensitive.

The year had come and gone in no time, just like those before it. The four of them had been hanging out infrequently, going down to Hogsmeade and bantering outside class. Lucas was doing well in theory, though Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts required a coordination and detection that was beyond him, which was the area Anna excelled. Laila was well rounded, and while Tyler himself didn't get great grades, he was the best presented.

As he was thinking, he almost missed the call behind him.

"Hey Tyler!"

He turned, and there was Anna, the red haired girl approaching with typical enthusiasm, causing him to sigh, before waving and calling "Evening Anna, how are you doing?"

She arrived by his side at the bridge, and smiled a wide, happy grin. "Alright! What are you doing out here?"

"I needed some air. Yourself?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, allowing the pair of them to look over the lake, seeing a figure skipping stones on the lakeside below, before it began walking back.

"What are you doing over the summer?"

The question caught him off guard, but he relaxed and turned to face her. "Not much… I don't know most of the people in my locality, so I stay at home for the most part."

Her face fell, before she turned away. "I know what you mean. We live in an old wooden house, with cousins and cousins and a few more cousins. it's all a little cooped in, and a few miles from anything."

There was a brief silence as they took in each other's stories, before Tyler broke the silence.

"So what do you get up to?"

She shook her head. "Not too much, avoiding Georg and the relatives he hangs out with. I keep myself to myself."

"Same.." he sighed. "You hear about Lucas?"

She laughed. Lucas' story had circulated about half the school, causing an air of disquiet around the curious boy. "Of course. Who'd have thought he went through that?"

Tyler mmmed. "I'm having one problem with his story..."

"And that would be?"

The pair of them turned to see the blind bronze and blue teen slouching behind them, having come across the bridge silently.

"... How long have you been there?" They collectively whispered.

Lucas chuckled "Just coming up from the lake. Skipping stones, the sounds are.. interesting. Just heading back. So what's the problem?"

There was a brief pause, before Anna quietly said "Nothing…"

Lucas's face darkened, and replied. "Try again."

Tyler nodded in defeat, saying. "Alright. Where do you go for the summer? You can't go back to the camp, but you have not trouble when we get off the train. This is the issue."

He paused, before replying. "Who said I had anywhere to go back to? I stay at a London homeless shelter for a few months."

"YOU WHAT!" They collectively yelled, causing him to cringe at the harsh noise, retreating into himself.

"Did I stutter?" He eventually replied, after recomposing, not saying it meanly but genuinely. "I don't lie to you."

They were dumbfounded, and Lucas was actually turning to return to the castle, before Tyler called "Wait!"

He turned, not used to being called back twice. "What is it?"

"You can stay with me..."

This took Lucas with such a shock he very visibly recoiled, before a smile fell onto his face. "Sure. I'll sort out the finer details with you later. Enjoy yourselves you two."

He nodded respectfully, before turning away and leaving them alone.

Tyler quietly released a breath he didn't know he was holding, before turning back to Anna, who asked "Do… do you want to go out to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"With the others?"

"... No… just us.."

 **This was originally two chapters, splitting between Laila's arrival home and Lucas telling his story, at 2500 words apiece. I figured better one long chapter than 2 short ones, especially since it's finished. Please review and share for another chapter on Sunday**.

 **~ Eth0**


	4. Goooood Morning Hogwarts!

Chapter 4 - Goooood morning Hogwarts!

[] [] [] - Lucas

"WHHHOOOOOOO!"

Lucas sipped his drink as he heard the sixth year Hufflepuff rear up on the central common room table, very drunk, before he fell back onto the sofa behind him.

This was Hufflepuffs blanket party, held once every month, where all houses were invited. Interestingly, dyed in the wool Gryffindors and Slytherins rarely attended, and most Ravenclaws didn't care for big parties, preferring a quiet night in with a few close friends discussing ideas, but Tyler had… politely asked, admittedly at wandpoint, him to attend. Get him out of doors as it were. On the topic of Tyler, his house had been quite welcoming, especially given he ate, spoke, or for the most part did very little. Of course, this was Tyler's vengeance for his inactivity, bringing him to the lions den. He groaned as he sipped his water, while Anna and Tyler danced the night away, at least as far as he could hear. They had been writing to each other all summer long, and he had a sneaking suspicion they were going out, but he had been tight lipped on the issue. He sat back, intending to wait it out.

Unfortunately, Ty had other ideas, as he crashed down onto the couch beside him, asking "How are you doing?", as Anna stood above them.

"Fine…" he said grumpily, not a fan of the party atmosphere.

Not really listening, Tyler said "Listen, we're good mates, and I've got a proposal that might help us both out. Mind seeing my afterwards, say in the observatory, after the party?"

He silently nodded, having silent doubts as to whether Tyler would even remember. Tyler promptly slapped him on the back and resumed presumably making a fool of himself. And yet, he was very good at it, most people cheering him on. At the end of the day, Lucas had to admit, his friend was very popular. He finally stood, leaving for the long balcony by the back row for some air. The fifteen year old Ravenclaw left out the gate, and leaned out on the railings over the castle, breathing in the November night air rush down his throat, chilling him. He finished the water in his plastic cup, before chucking it over the edge and taking deep breaths, wondering what Tyler wanted as he cooled off.

"Lucas?"

He turned to the side, recognising the voice as Laila's soft, measured voice with a sense of surprise. As he knew, most Slytherins and Gryffindors didn't turn up, but then again Laila wasn't very partisan. He brought this up, remarking "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Same goes for you."

"Tyler didn't give me much choice."

She gave a soft chuckle. "Par for the course then. What do you expect when you spend the summer with the guy?."

"Swings and roundabouts" he replied. "It's this or the streets. He's probably told everyone how my summer was, so how was yours?"

"I don't pay as much attention to him, he's wrong a lot more than he's right. Not that I don't like him of course, I just wouldn't take my news from him."

He nodded "I understand, but you'd be surprised. He can be pretty insightful, and sounds pretty damn professional while presenting it." He shook a little uncomfortably. Like Laila, he was brutal in analysis and discussion, unlike the other two. That having been said, if they heard this, he feared the consequences of losing two of his only friends.

Laila seemed not to mind, continuing "True, but a pretty face doesn't make you right."

He was fairly sure that was a slight against her family, which he picked up on instantly, responding "That's not important for people like you and me, but…" petering off as he didn't have the heart to come up with an example. After a pause, the inevitable question.

"Does this mean I win?"

He reluctantly nodded, before a long pause permeated the open air. She wasn't being hostile or an asshole, she was obviously teasing.

"So…"

He turned his head. "Yea?"

"What do I get for winning?"

This had him laughing. One of their previous discussions had been whether Laila, excepting familial ties, was a good fit in Slytherin. He'd been claiming she was, winning on the argument of her attitude to rewards, and weighing up options for personal benefit before taking a stance. As his laughter quieted down, he got relatively serious. Laila was probably the second smartest person he knew, and he couldn't deny she was… interesting. Certainly, there was a certain opposites interest at play, given her polar opposite background and perspective, but like he always tried to she put it aside at every convenience, but knew when to engage it to get what she wanted. If he was asked with a wand to his head who he would like to spend his time with, and the "no one" option was crossed out, he would most likely pick Laila. Before he gave himself the chance to do something unwise, he sighed, and moved his hands towards his face, moving his finger into the ridge between his mask and his face, before pulling the blindfold up to his forehead, with shallow bated breaths of anxiety. He didn't know what his face looked like, but her gasp as his hands came to rest confirmed it.

"Well what does it look like? You're the first person since the man who found me on the street after I was stabbed to see this. How has it ripened?" He jokingly asked with a jaunty grin, which was definitely not reciprocated.

"It…" she could barely speak, and he heard her step closer, before feeling her cold breath against his face. She moved no closer, examining his eyes. He moved his hand back up, feeling the scars, bubbly yet crackled hard, like overcooked bacon. He sighed as she backed off. "Will that do?"

Her pause confirmed it, so as he raised his blindfold onto the wound, he gave a cruel smile, gentle chuckles rising up into the soft night. As his voice died down, he joined the silence.

"Are you alright?" he eventually asked, and she eventually replied "Yeah… that must have hurt."

He shook it off, responding "It's alright, it was only sore for the first few months… WAIT NO I DIDN'T MEAN THAT!" his voice rising to a cry as he realising he was not being comforting. Fortunately Laila saw the funny side to his social ineptitude, giggling.

"You're hilarious." she mocked, as he realised he was blushing and looked away. She laughed at him, saying "Relax, you're fine. Actually…"

Lucas could barely contain himself, and began to ask "Do…" but the boy choked the delivery, causing Laila to laugh again, which brought Lucas to laughter. Laila eventually said slyly "Were you about to ask me out, Mr Beck?"

"JACOBSON Beck." he shouted, before realising she was intentionally playing with him, causing him to grump. "Yes, as a matter of fact I was…"

He sighed as he silently thanked Tyler for inviting him up to the party, as she whispered. "How does the lake Sunday afternoon sound?"

[] [] [] - Tyler

Tyler stood alone in the open observatory, and breathed out the open air. It was almost 3 o'clock, and he had been sitting for twenty minutes.

"Come on Lucas, what's the hold up?"

The guy never forgot anything, in fact he had to write this onto his own arm to remind himself. The observatory was a circle, with six pillars around the edges raising a translucent roof, allowing one to see all directions with an enchanted spyglass. The wizarding world had largely left the documentation of the stars to the muggles, who had made a pretty good job of it, making it to other planets, a feat which puzzled the wizarding establishment for years on end until a few muggleborns spelled out the science.

His mind returned to his planning, and he was convinced Lucas would buy in. Not only was it right up his alley, but he had confided he was often bored in class, and the idea of not attending these boring classes would appeal to him. He chuckled. This was the sort of scheme Laila would probably come up with.

"Laila…"

"What did you say?"

As he pieced together why Lucas was late, the man in question appeared… grinning?

"Whats with you?"

He shrugged nonchalantly "Just uncharacteristically cheerful. It may surprise you, but I do encounter a trace of an emotion from time to time."

Tyler shook his head, replying "Dude, I spent a summer with you. The number of things that get you SMILING, not counting your little sadistic chuckles, can be counted on my hand. Given where you left the party, I can hazard a guess as to what, or who, may have given you that smile."

Said smile instantly dissipated, as he hissed "Leave the deductions to me, being smart doesn't suit you."

"Oh, to be so cruel." Tyler shot back amusedly, with Lucas' squirming confirming his suspicions.

"MOVING ON." Lucas finished. "What do you want?" His face was now calm after a visible effort to release his pressure and basically admitting defeat. Tyler smirked to himself, before beginning.

"Over the last few years, a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw ran the Hogwarts Radio, for three different generations of classes. Each one does their own spin on it, and the last bunch just left. The headmistress asked me to do it, but also noted I should probably have… a quote unquote grounding influence."

Lucas' face was narrow and thoughtful, as he contemplated what this may entail.

"So what exactly will I be doing?"

Tyler leaned back, and answered. "Scripting and information gathering, as well as co presenting. You are the smartest person I know Lucas, and have no problem putting me in my place."

If Lucas had one personality flaw, he was quite prideful, and despite years of bullying he had a considerable ego. And Lucas knew it on a subconscious level at least, as he replied "You're a gifted advertiser." Still, he wasn't saying no, as Tyler stroked his intelligence, and delivered the final blow.

"Y'know, since it's a school project you can get out of class to research and write."

No answer.

"The first meeting with teachers is tomorrow at 4 in the multimedia room."

Tyler smirked, and left Lucas' thoughtful face behind as he began the walk back to his dorm.

'Too easy…'

[] [] [] - Laila

After extensive conversations with her three friends, Laila Faust had learned a lot about other houses, and what stood out most was their rules. The house with the least rules that pertained only to their members was Ravenclaw, with only two; Don't argue after 10, or no one will sleep, and Don't argue during dinner, or we will starve. Laila was convinced Lucas had been making that up, until she used her outreach to discover that those rules were completely unironic.

Gryffindor had surprisingly nonsensical rules, such as being the only house that explicitly forbade non Gryffindors entering the common room, among other head scratching Gryffindor-pride rules which even Slytherins found Draconic. Hufflepuffs rules had two common characteristics; don't fight, and be nice to other houses. Tyler saw these as largely nonsense, as they were practically self enforced, as other Hufflepuffs always intervened before an argument got out of hand, whether it was among house members or not. Slytherin actually had a several page book, with etiquette regulation, such as one particularly funny one; all financial exchanges must take place between 4pm and 5pm, on Mondays through Saturday only. That particular one dumbfounded all her friends, though she couldn't imagine a peaceful life without that rule.

This didn't exactly calm their nerves.

Still, it made for a peaceful evening, as she plugged a set of old headsets and tuned into the old radio and settled down to relax. Lucas had proved himself a decent date, managing to make two hours fly by with little more than skipping rocks and talking. It had been two days since then, and four since the party. After flicking through a few channels, she settled on BBCM for the Eight O'clock news.

"In other news, the first preliminary caucasus for the position of the Head of the International Confederation of Wizards have just come in, with Shimo Hosoda, Rodriguez Posoda, Thomas Faust and Adebowale Undigra made the 21% quota vote under PR. Over the course of the next two years, the primaries over sectors will take place to select the candidate. We will be covering…"

After pausing to digest this, she got the sense she missed something.

THOMAS?

She sat back as she thought about the fact that the family Ravenclaw was the one who'd climbed the ranks better than any of them. Lucas was going to swoon when he heard. Still, the election process in and of itself made for controversy. Each nation, or subnation in the case of large countries, cast a vote proportional to population within their precinct, and each precinct had one block vote for a candidate. The one with the most block votes wins. The problem was the size of the precincts. There was one for America, one for South America, one for Africa, extending to the Suez canal, two for Asia, mainland and the Pacific Islands, one for Britain, and two for Europe, the Danube being the dividing line. This system had only been implemented twelve years ago, prior to which the Confederation picked a Head, practically a president of the International Wizarding World. These elections took place every ten years. Still, none of this fixed the issue that the voting was ludicrously biased in favour of Europe, as a result of an attempt to compromise with the Big Three to get their support.

Laila could almost feel the irony radiating from the broadcast.

Sighing, she flicked through the channels.

"-ALWAYS BURNING SINCE-"

-for the Conservative P-"

"-Lucas dug up-"

Just as she was about to move on, she heard not only the name Luas, which pricked her ears, but it came from a familiar voice. She continued to listen.

"-a study from the Board of Electorate and published with an editorial in the Prophet has been getting a lot of coverage, and it is an average of all the polls coming out of South America and Africa, the two precincts voting first, is really fucking interesting, so Lucas, mind going into specifics?"

"Of course." replied a soft, quiet voice, in contrast to the booming assertive first voice "When you break the demographics down by age, Posoda and to a lesser extent Hosoda have large leads, with 42% and 31% respectively in the 18 to 29 demographic in South America, and Undigra and Posoda have leads of 62% and 26% in Africa. With middle aged, it averages out with Posoda and Undigra holding a small lead in their respective areas, however Faust holds a decisive lead in both areas with older people, at 78% and 62%. I'd just like to point out before we continue that Posoda is an Argentine national, and Undigra is from the Ivory Coast, so there is a national aspect, in the same way that Faust will do well in Europe and Hosoda will do well in South Asia, but that doesn't explain the age disparity, which could be a large turning point in this entire election."

The first voice took the gap to ask "What are the numbers on rich versus poor?"

There was a brief pause, before a sound of the ruffling of papers and the second voice saying "A moment, just let me grab it…"

After a few seconds, and a few more seconds, and a brief quiet exchange the audience couldn't hear. Laila suspected the paper was written in words that Lucas couldn't read, and had to hand it over, confirmed when the first voice which was almost certainly Tyler. As they resumed, she acutely realized some other people were tuning into their radios.

"Yes, so in both Africa and South America the bottom 20% are more likely to support Hosoda at about the same as their local nominee, and towards the top 10% Faust receives marginally more support-"

"BUT wealth can be correlated with age given the shorter average lifespans." Lucas deadpanned, with the subtlety of a brick, throwing off Tyler briefly, before he resumed.

"Yes… well anyway, this certainly is telling, as if the vote is split early on and a single candidate cleans up in one precinct while all the others go 25% or so each, that'll be enough, so if the southern areas want to prevent Faust from getting in, they need to consolidate around one candidate, or else they will be split, with Faust getting three precincts guaranteed and all the others getting one or two."

She dialled out, removing her headphones as Maria chuckled behind her.

"Guess your eedyot boyfriend finally amounted to something." she goaded.

Laila could not care less.

 **~ Eth0**


	5. Revelations

Chapter 6 - Revelations

[] [] [] – Anna

Another year had gone by, and as Anna sat down in her group's regular stall, she smiled as the train rested in the station. She had been messaging Tyler and Lucas over the course of the summer, and even Laila had sent her an absurdly formal letter which was cute in its own way. Tyler and Lucas' show had kept going over the summer, and with the internet now broadcasted across the globe. Anna even tuned in every once in awhile, and it often proved an interesting experience. The news was always very in depth, as Tyler broke stuff down and Lucas laid out the statistics and numbers, giving opinions much more rarely. Still, it was a good listen all the same. Her home life had been exceptionally boring, and looked forward to the school year. The sixteen year old leaned back in her chair and waited in silence.

She didn't have to wait long, as Laila knocked on the door respectfully, in typical Laila fashion. She opened the door, turning and sliding it shut behind her, not allowing it to slam shut. Anna chuckled internally as several students passed the door without asking to enter, which spoke volumes as to how established they were. Laila took a seat opposite Anna, and began with "Hey Anna, how are you?"

Anna casually replied, still leaning back "Fine, I got your letter.", laughing at the memory of it.

Laila shook her head, chuckling. "While the families don't mind me making connections with others, I think they're still coming to terms with the idea of friends for non expedient reasons. They'd be more concerned if their heads hadn't exploded at my uncle running for Head of the ICW. Still, they monitor my letters, if only to make sure they're properly written. Their OCD is on par with Lucas'."

This had them both laughing for a good minute, as they both knew what that madman was like. As Annas hearty cheer died down, she felt nostalgic at their first conversation, where Laila was withdrawn and Anna was over the top brash. It was hilarious how they had changed, with Laila growing more sly and socially adept, and herself growing more wholesome and understanding of others.

"How's Thomas doing?" Anna asked. As a Gryffindor, she had a ludicrously defined sense of right and wrong that extended to politics, and having spent a summer listening to coverage had led to her having some strong opinions. In addition, she hated lying with a passion. Her continuation was a bad combination of these two facts.

"No offence, but I really don't like some of his policies."

If Laila was offended, she didn't show it. "He's getting on fine, I've been watching and waiting for the most part. I don't want to play any cards until all the facts are out."

Anna nodded. South America and Africa were voting in just under a week, and the press, her friends included, had gone into a frenzy, as some of their policy positions had come forward. Faust was the most archaic, calling for increased defence and blood regulations, though anyone would admit he was the best spoken, and was a brilliant advertiser. The others was scrapping out in the middle of the spectrum, though Hosoda leaned a little more libertarian, which accounted for his relative popularity with the disadvantaged. Truth be told, Anna didn't like any of them, as the most "moderate" candidate was still far more disingenuous than she cared for.

"The problem is, none of them are much good." Anna surmised, before Laila replied "It's how they're picked. When they're nominated, it's a selection by a council vote in the ministry, and they play moderate to try and appeal to the inane establishment. Since none of the positions are popular, the one with the most money and name recognition wins. Anyone who stakes out an extreme position is demonised."

Anna gave a hollow chuckle. "You should run, you certainly know what you're doing."

Laila sighed and shook her head in amusement, as Anna continued "But I don't get it. If an idea is popular, then how do they make it seem unpopular?"

"Easy." a voice arose from the back corner of the room, drawing both the teens' attention, as they both saw Tyler standing in the doorframe, smiling at them. He nodded to the seat next to Anna, asking permission. Anna laughed aloud at the typical Tyler, before confirming that yes, he did in fact have permission to sit beside his girlfriend. As he finally sat, he resumed "The thing is, in their little bubble, the Overton window, the realm of respectable debate, is shifted so far towards the old farts in the ministry it's insane. There is an area within which your opinion is considered valid, and outside you're seen as a crazy person. Sports is a good example. It's considered reasonable to say the Ballycastle bats can win the league next year, but if you say the Falmouth Falcons can win you're a loon. Theoretically, both are possibilities, but one is ruled out by the crowd."

Anna always marvelled at Tylers insane ability to break down concepts, though she realised the elephant in the room just as Laila pointed it out.

Or more specifically, the elephant NOT in the room.

"Where the hell is Lucas? I thought he was staying with you?"

Tylers smile dissipated briefly, before he recovered. While he was a master of conversation, even he couldn't cover himself constantly, and they all caught it. Despite this he moved on, asking "So how were your summers?"

"Tyler." Anna snarled.

He sighed, before finally opening up. "He's in another car."

"What?" Laila asked quizzically, causing Tyler to sigh and clarify with a bitter voice "He's in a different carriage, working on the show. The bastard tunnel visions like nobody else. I swear he sleeps, like, three hours a day."

He sounded tired of it, as Anna rested her arm on his far shoulder, and Laila looked beside herself with rage.

"We will be having words."

[] [] [] - Laila

Laila stormed up the stairs like a woman possessed, pushing past others and using her "subordinates" to form a practical police barricade. Her face was thunder as she rounded the corner up to Ravenclaw tower. It had been two days since they had arrived back for fifth year and Lucas had still been nowhere to be found, except when on his way to and from the media room, when most people ate dinner. The one thing she'd heard through the grapevine was that he spent most of his time in the Common Room, which was where she was heading. As she finally entered the short hallway leading into the Ravenclaw door painting, she nodded her followers off before turning to face the painting, a tall, lean woman with long, flowing black hair leaning in her stone chair, books piled up behind her. She turned to examine Laila, smiling and beginning.

"Hello lass, I haven't seen you before. Mind letting me in on your name?"

She had been told about this. The door woman wanted everyone's names as an extension of wanting knowledge, to the extent of asking every single first year on the night they arrived. She sighed, and answered "Laila Faust."

The lady raised an eyebrow, and replied "Well isn't that interesting. The only other Faust that walked through here certainly did well for himself, mm?" She paused to write her name down, before nodding. "So, before I let you in, let's try a little experiment? Your uncle had trouble with this one, who makes it, has no need of it. Who buys it, has no use for it. Who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?

Laila's brow furrowed, as she sat to contemplate the answer. There were a few possibilities. There were three separate parties mentioned. Person B took it from Person A, neither of whom needed it on behalf of Person C who does. Unless the answer was some immaterial concept, which explained why he would never see it, but feeling it? That was the key here. She racked her brains for fifteen minutes straight, sitting down with her hands around her head, before resigning herself. "I don't know, I can't work it out."

The lady in the door smiled and opened. "Congratulations. Don't lie about what you know and don't know."

She rolled her eyes. Unlike Anna, she was not absolutely opposed to lying, but it was a cute message she guessed. Still there was one issue.

"What did Thomas say?" she asked, distracted. There was no way that man would give up, he had too much pride, much like Lucas come to think of it. The lady sighed and replied "He sat outside for hours, going to class, eating and sleeping out here for weeks until he got it. If someone was about to tell him, he attacked them, until he got the answer in a moment of inspiration."

"And what was it?"

The painting sighed. "A coffin."

This gave her some pause, before she kicked herself for both not catching on the Person C was dead, and that she had gotten distracted from getting on Lucas' case.

She stormed inside the airy common room, distracting the two or three studious pupils deep in books, who practically fell over backwards. She was practically radiating anger.

"Where is Lucas!" She hissed at the poor students, the furthest of whom from her nervously pointed towards a rear door, as the loudest thing ever to enter the centre area of the Common Room crossed and slammed open the door, entering the little hollow Lucas was working in.

The room was unbelievably dark, bordering on totally black, which made no sense until she remembered he couldn't see, and didn't care about light. But since this room looked old, and was likely here before him, there must be a light…

After moving her palms along the wall, she found an old switch, and flipped it, revealing the less than pretty scene.

As she took in the small room, only 10 feet by 6, with a desk stretching along the rear wall out into a desk chair, high up to the back of Lucas' head, with a stack of plates to the left of the door. She noted it was very neatly piled, which was interesting, though logical given that he couldn't see, and had to be somewhat organised in order to remember where anything was. She advanced through the claustrophobic, hot room, and caught her first glimpse of her boyfriend.

He looked a state. He seemed to be asleep, mechanical pencil resting in his still hand, his head hanging low but not resting on the desk. His hair was greasier than a fast food restaurant, he smelt like sweat and mould, and his bags stretching down below his blindfold had their own bags. He probably needed the sleep, but he had fallen asleep in the middle of work, which made him fair game. More to the point, she was not going to be stopped, shaking him awake.

"WHATTHEBLOODYHE-"

"Shut up." She hissed, grabbing the shocked man by his filthy shirt, and yelling into his face "What the hell is wrong with you! We're gone for a summer and you dig a hole and shit in it? Look at yourself, you're so far up your own ego you hide yourself and work up to the only time you let yourself be seen! I… I missed you!"

After the initial shock wore off, Lucas' face settled into a calm look of guilt. After she stopped, panting with the beginnings of tears in her eyes, he seemed to search for what to say. Before he could come up with the inevitable snark, until the first tear fell down onto his face, bringing his face into shock, his eyebrow ridge and cheekbone flying apart as he realised she was crying. Laila herself leaned back, holding back snivels, as she looked at the pair of them, before looking up at the ceiling.

Which is why she didn't see him leaning up out of his chair and kissing her for the first time.

It was poorly aimed, but that was par for the course for Lucas, as he gave a gentle peck to her jawline, but they both recoiled, Lucas looking guilty and Laila just in shocked surprise.

"So you do have emotions…" she tried to joke.

Lucas didn't rise to a reply, merely aiming his face to the ground.

She was still in the same position, looking down at the teen, as he finally spoke up. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't know, I.. should have."

She shook her head, replying "But did you not yourself miss me?"

He looked to the side, pausing for a long time before admitting "I did. There is no 'but' that can amend that."

That was it. No defence, no snarky attempt to get the last word. He was genuine. After hesitating, she leant down and gave him a kiss on his forehead, causing him to recoil in the same surprise she did, as he practically fell back off his chair. As he stuttered, she smiled and said "Alright. You need to do your thing, but you need to do a few things too."

Lucas gulped.

"First, clean up. Take a shower, get a change of clothes, and get a haircut. Second, get out of this room. Detox. And then…" she paused, chuckling. "Then we can make some improvements."

[] [] [] - Anna

"So there's a worrying story coming out of Edinburgh, absolutely heart wrenching." Lucas introduced, as Tyler sat across from him at the end of the room. "There was a terrorist attack planned at the local Wizarding Alley, but first let's get a good look at our suspect. Jacob Glenn, a muggle born twenty three year old who lived in the area, and… oh boy, what he was planning. Now luckily, him and his gang did not have their plans come to fruition because the Scottish Aurors caught them, so thank god, but let's get a good idea of what they were planning. Here's a quote from one of the messages within the terrorist group, those guys ought to be killed. Their buildings need to be burnt down. If we can get in there and do that not losing a man, even the better, so we're dealing with some truly terrible people. The target was a local community organiser and well respected pureblood Archibald MacDermot, who ran for office back in 2012. They planned to break into his office and kill him and his associates, before burning the place to the ground. The blood motive is very obvious according to authorities." He concluded grimly, allowing a pause before Tyler delivered the reply with an affected surprised voice.

"You know, given how much coverage muggle born on pureblood violence, I have not heard a lot about this in the national news…"

They both paused for effect, before Lucas jolted and snapped his fingers, making a show of sudden realisation. "Oh wait, I've JUST remembered, I got one little bit of the story wrong. What actually happened is that the terrorist was Archibald MacDermot and the victim was the twenty four year old muggle born."

Tyler made a show of being shocked, before they both dropped the intro act, before settling into the story.

"Isn't it amazing?" Lucas kicked off. "This guy, who ran for office, so a pretty influential man, plans an attack, in great detail which we'll get into in a second here, to terrorise this muggle born community in northern Edinburgh, and yet CRICKETS from the national news. NOTHING."

One of the things Laila had told Lucas to do was be a bit more open, Anna noted. He had plenty of opinions, but he was an introvert among introverts and getting him onto the show in the first place had been an achievement. But he now opened up a bit more with opinion, countering Tyler more often than not and even going on the occasional spirited rant, though less composed than Tyler some people enjoyed it.

Tyler, in true Tyler fashion, replied "But Lucas, you're forgetting a very important fact; pure bloods can't be terrorists by definition."

As he finished the quip, the crowd gave a laugh, which led Anna mentally to the second thing that had changed over the last two weeks: A live audience. They really got Tyler going, and Lucas himself found them easy going enough. The room was a disused classroom, and anyone could come up and listen live as they discussed the news between six and seven each evening. The show had a lot more jokes now, as Lucas had been forced to release his stranglehold on the notes, allowing Ty to have a bit of fun with it. After Tyler had finished his reply, the blind teen grinned and said "Knew I forgot something." causing more laughter, this time from Anna as well, before Tyler said "Being serious, this is an important point to make, as anyone who's watched for a while knows, we've covered, what is it Lucas, four or five different pureblood attacks or planned attacks, that got NOOOO coverage whatsoever. Actually, I may just ask, how many people have heard of Elder Blood, in the audience?"

A pause, as several people, Anna included, raised their hands, as Ty counted. "Mm.. MAYBE ten, fifteen percent?"

"Nah, it's a quarter, it's a good HMR audience." Lucas declared to the audience's amusement, lampshaded by the fact he couldn't see.

Shaking his head in amusement, Lucas took over from where Tyler left off. "Well the Elder Blood is the nation's biggest terrorist group, now that's not opinion, that's a fact. In 2014, an Auroric community study found that the Elder Blood is responsible for 56% of terrorism on their own compared to..."

Anna leaned back as Lucas went into numbers mode, only interrupted by Tyler to highlight something noteworthy, but as she took a moment, she saw Mr Hagee in the back corner of the room, examining the scene. Each day, a teacher kept a weather eye on the show, to ensure nothing too offensive was said and the crowd wasn't unruly. At the moment, he was doing neither, instead typing furiously into a phone, before he left in a hurry.

Curious, Anna left her seat and followed, as Hagee walked angrily down the hall, almost entirely self absorbed, which was odd in and of itself for the normally hyper aware man. She followed from a distance, as he dialled a number before entering a room to the side, as she approached and listened through the gap.

"He got it?"

A pause, before he sighed.

"Fuuuck.."

Another pause.

"Don't bank on Asia."

He hung up, before going to lock the door, leaving Anna alone in the dark hall. She sighed, before returning to the room. Hagee was up to something, she had no doubt, but there was not much she could do about it. As she returned to the room, it seemed the pair of the teens onstage had finished up the first story, and had moved on.

"The results are in." Tyler began. "With 88% of stations reporting, Faust curbstomped in South America, winning 72% of the vote, with 28% being split among the three other guys. With 91% reporting in Africa, it's a little closer, with Thomas winning 46% of the vote, and Hosoda and Undigra split the rest of the majority with 25% apiece. While this raises the issue of candidate dilution playing into Faust's hands, we have to establish what this means for the election upcoming. South Asia is locked for Hosoda, and both European Precincts are going to Faust, and America, England and North Asia are toss ups. If Hosoda wins all three, they'll tie and it all goes to hell. With the base of establishment voters, Faust is likely to butt heads with Hosoda's more progressive base, which will determine the future of the world according to their lines, with pros and cons to each. But the thing is-"

"No, I'll tell you what the thing is." Lucas said, angrily, his voice rising back to it's Welsh snarl. "It's not bloody even. It's not like 'Y'know, some people are for fucking lynching muggleborns, and some people are sane!' They're not even on the same scale! One is sane, and one belongs in a bloody asylum. It's not equal, some ideas are just better than others, and the same applies here. Have a spine. What are the pros to a Faust administration mm? Lower regulations? Boy, that top marginal bracket really chewing away your income? The muggle borns coming up here like they're hot shit getting on your nerves, so let's regulate? Well?" He asked, doing a good impression of a raving lunatic.

Tyler bit back after a brief applause by a crowd hyped on enthusiasm, as he more calmly and composedly replied "All ideas are valid, and you have to weigh them all evenly, and the best ideas will obviously rise to the top in an open and equal marketplace."

"But it's not equal! Do you honestly believe that Faust beat Hosoda because his policies were any good? No, he has the money behind him for advertising, and then you have the balls to say that it's an open and equal marketplace? Feck off." He roared, before cooling off. Anna watched as he ran his hand through his eternally messy hair, before more calmly continuing "It's not just you, but when you attempt to justify both of them, while one is so obviously more horrid than the other, you're biased in favor of the idiot. It's a problem with the wider media."

"But you have to acknowledge them all." Tyler pushed. "And excluding any point of view-"

"Lets try a thought experiment" Lucas interrupted, calmly. "Pure bloods shouldn't be allowed to marry each other. Ban it."

As the room exploded, he raised a calming hand. "We all agree that's stupid and abhorrent. So why is a candidate that says the intermarrying and other things should be more strictly regulated is taken seriously?"

"Because we've moved on as a society-"

"Yes, the Overton window has moved on, but it has moved on in only one direction. The double standard is hilarious."

Tyler sighed as he replied "If someone running on THAT platform got votes, I think it would be worthy of examination."

The light humour relieved the tension, as Lucas raised his hands in mock retreat.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you that, even though you're just wrong." he joked, helping lighten the atmosphere. "But he has made several statements appealing to the fear factor, which has helped him win a lot of support, but when people vote out of fear rather than ideas than can you not see his ideas aren't the best?"

"I'm not arguing he's the best." Tyler clarified. "Nor am I justifying him by recognising he has a position, and that people are voting for him on that position."

Anna was amazed by how efficiently they split the room. Some were taken in by Lucas' enthusiasm and false equivalence argument, and the rest were won over by Tyler's professional manner and argument for equality.

 **Thank you for your continued readership, but please review! I need mah feedback!**

 **~Etho**


	6. Snow

Chapter 6 - Snow

[] [] [] - Tyler

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The four friends whooped from the Hogsmeade inn as the seconds ticked over into 2022, before the vast relief of energy exploded through the room. The group had a four year tradition of counting down New Years in this inn, Hog's Head, as they basically had the room to themselves, which in itself brought a few benefits. Laila and Tyler could relax from their personas, Anna could be as loud as she wished, and Lucas could smuggle in Firewhisky and get drunk. Every year they begged him to not, as he was always smashed the next day, and would get an instant detention if seen. Of course, they couldn't stop him leaving some in the room a week in advance, and "finding" it when they arrived.

"Have a glass!" the teen in question offered Tyler, a grin on his face. He did this every year, and he refused each year in equal measure. However this time his curiosity got the best of him, as he gingerly took the glass, examining it carefully between his fingers, before realising the room had gone quiet. He turned to the two girls across the room, who were barely containing giggles.

"WHAT'S WITH YOU?" he yelled both indignantly and amusingly at the pair of them, spluttering like mad, before Anna managed to speak. "It's you, drinking. We finally broke you. Laila and I drink at home, it's just you."

He recoiled, looking between his three friends. This was peer pressure, he knew it, and Lucas' knowing smile confirmed his being perfectly aware of what he was doing.

Well be damned if he was going to fall behind. He slugged the Firewhisky down, before he instantly realised the magnitude of his error, as his throat lit up with the drinks namesake. The liquid that made it down his body roasted him alive, as he spat the drink still in his mouth into the carpet, sending the girls into fits of laughter, as Tyler looked up at Lucas, aghast.

"How do you stomach that?" he asked incredulously, causing Lucas to join Laila and Anna in laughter, as he shook his head before wheezing out "It's an acquired taste."

As he recovered, still spluttering much to the rooms amusement, he lightly slapped Lucas across the shoulder for pulling that trick on him, causing Lucas to cool off his laugh, resorting to an amused smile. Despite their frequent rows, they were still firm friends, knowing their onscreen arguments didn't affect their personal relationship. Still, Tyler rolled his eyes, and turned to Anna "Go on then, since you're having so much fun." he called across the table, pointing at the next bottle of Lucas' booze. She shook her head, and said "No thanks, I'm driving."

He couldn't believe even his own girlfriend throwing him under the bus, accepting that he was going to be the butt of many jokes to come. Anna, seeing his defeated expression, reached across the table and ruffled his blonde hair, comforting him. Laila took one look at Lucas, and simply said "I'm not going near your hair if it's all the same to you."

The tables swiftly turned on him, Lucas chuckled, replying "Oh, to be so cruel my love!" in an over the top, Shakespearean voice, before working his way out of his seat and around the table, hindered by his sight and alcohol to the point of nearly falling over at one point, before ruffling Laila's raven hair, messing it all up from its natural order.

"What are you doing?" she cried in amused confusion as he backed away in mock confusion.

"What are you talking about? I don't see any difference!" Lucas grinned, knowing exactly what he'd done.

Laila, initially outraged, knew better than to indulge Lucas' games, which was notable. He himself nearly always walked right into the tricks he would pull, either on air or out of doors.

Lucas worked his way back round to his chair, sitting beside Tyler looking very smug, and no one missed it, as Tyler rolled his eyes, Anna chuckled at the sight of it all, and Laila looked grumpy, but well aware of the funny side. After the moment passed, Lucas poured himself another glass, and Anna looked at him cheerfully, asking "Feeling better?"

Tyler nodded, as his girlfriend was looking out for him with the kindest intentions as always. "A bit." he chuckled hollowly, before settling for a glass of water, raising it above the table. "To a great 2022", echoed quickly by Laila and Anna, and a little later by Lucas after he caught on. Anna smiled at him, and he saw Lucas and Laila smiling at each other, as the night soothed on, Tyler and Anna leaving first, as they wanted some time to themselves. Lucas, now heavily intoxicated, couldn't care less, and even encouraged them to do some unsavoury things before being scolded by Laila as they left into the snow.

Hogsmeade was a garish place around Christmas, almost to the point that the group avoided it, but most of the decor had been removed, and now a mellow glow lay about the town, matching the gentle snow lying about the ground and settling on their shoulders as they slowly ventured through the old hamlet. Most of the crowd had been celebrating in Hogsmeade proper, and had since left. The centre clock outside told them it was 2am, and it was just under freezing, as the water streaking down the window visibly became ice as it reached its resting place at the wooden sill. Anna held onto his arm as they traversed out of the stone street and into the open clearing, opposite the forest. There was a ridge, before a long fence overlooking the lake, edges frozen in violent edges, black as its namesake. They sat in silence, as the snow shifted to accommodate them. They sat slowly for some time, letting the water ahead of them bob up and down, drawing the ice with it. Tyler eventually looked to his side at Anna, who had been looking at him for some time, asking softly "Are you alright?"

She replied in a whisper "I'm cold."

He responded immediately, pulling his long coat over his shoulder and draping it over her, before moving closer to her, snuggling up to her side. His breath was white, as was hers, but as he sat next to her, her felt her cold warm up as their heat equalised. After a few moments, he asked "Better?"

She didn't respond initially, but eventually she turned fully to him and said "Keep your coat."

Confused, he asked "What?"

She turned to him, almost angrily "It's your coat, keep it. I can go cold, keep the heat for you!"

"But we can share it. All of my stuff, I'm happy to share."

"SHUT UP!" she yelled suddenly, the beginnings of tears around her eyes, causing Tyler great surprise, as he stood to look down at her. "What is it? I'm trying to hel-"

"Stop!" she wept, standing to match him. "Stop helping, and look after yourself. You're giving everything to help, but spreading your things to help will leave you with nothing! I don't want to see you hurt for me, I can manage! It… it hurts sometimes to see you give up your things. I...

I love you..."

[] [] [] - Laila

Lucas and Laila left a half hour later, stumbling into the snow, trekking straight back to the castle. Unlike the other two, the German Laila and the Welsh Lucas were well used to the cold, making good progress, at least given that one of them couldn't see. Lucas attempted to make his own way out of drunken confidence, making an arse of himself only three steps out the door and falling on his face. Laila escorted him by the arm up the road and across the bridge, as the night drew along, they slowly progressed, as Lucas sobered up through their slow walk, as the introverts shared a cutting conversation over their ideal life after school.

"Of course, we have to add the caveat that the ideal life would be to get my eyes back" Lucas noted, before continuing "Excepting that, I'd like to relax. Not to toot my own horn, but I've been working my ass off in school, and in the camp beforehand. I'd just like to have my own flat and be able to rest properly."

He paused briefly as they came to rest by the garden between the bridge and the castle proper, catching himself "With you of course.", it being fairly obvious he only thought of that just there. Laila didn't mind, knowing Lucas was hardly the most tactful person by instinct. Neither was she, come to think of it. Still, not passing up an opportunity to get back at him, she replied "Of course. And I'll be the one making sure you don't get too much relaxing.", which was the case for the present day. Lucas had long professed his perfect day would be spent on a sofa listening to an audiobook, and she had little doubt he could spend a lifetime doing that if left to his own devices.

"And yourself?" Lucas probed, after her thoughts had drawn the pause out long enough for the snow to form a layer on the pair of them.

Laila paused, as Lucas moved to clear his head of the melting snow, running his hand through his hair and wincing as he realised that Laila was right. She didn't say anything.

She didn't need to.

Still, back to the question. She lived the literal opposite of Lucas' life, never having much too far out of reach, and even in school there was no shortage of willing lackeys, who she made good use of.

"I'd like to work towards something. I have plenty of resources, and I'd like to put them to good work. And of course, I'll settle for a castle in Baden Wurttemberg."

Lucas wrinkled his nose. "Too big, too cold. Kinda like Hogwarts."

She raised an eyebrow that he couldn't see "I can leave you in an apartment."

"Ouch." he laughed. "No, I think a massive castle will do. Plenty of space for a library at least. Still, baby steps. You don't start off with a mansion."

Oh, if only you knew, she thought.

"Still, at least yours is feasible. If I gave up the radio show I'd be lynched." Lucas chuckled, as he made a decent point. HMR had for lack of a word exploded over the last three months, and she remembered Anna making the mistake of inquiring to Tyler about his pride and joy.

"Oh, it's really interesting actually. Most shows have an older audience, but because we started in the school, we're smack dab in what marketers call the key demographic. Not only have they done a wonderful job sharing it around, but if you have young people doing something, the rest will follow. As a result, we actually have more listeners outside the school than in- OWOWOWOW!" he broke, as Laila broke him off with a yank to the hair, which woke the sleeping Lucas.

That was back in October. Now, over ten thousand people across Britain tuned in semi regularly, which was amazing given the two guys running it.

Still, mustn't inflate the ego.

"Yeah, I don't know where they'd be without you." she deadpanned.

"Actually.." he began, in a voice that clued her into the fact she wasn't going to like what he said next.

"England's up next."

He was referring to the election, obviously. Both Asian precincts had narrowly selected Hosoda last week, giving Lucas and Tyler a field day. England was in a month, with America another month after, before the two European areas. America was a toss up, England was leaning Faust but not much, and North and South Europe were locked up for Faust.

"The candidates are going to be in the country."

Where's he going with this?

"I'd imagine they'd want to secure the youth vote, get their name out there."

Oh…

And suddenly Lucas' logic became clear. She was close to Thomas, Lucas wanted to interview him. Thomas wanted the youth vote, which both was one of the biggest blocs that were split, and the majority of HMRs audience. A match made in heaven. The one puzzle piece missing was why Lucas wanted him on at all. Tyler was more the one concerned about the show for the sake of the show, from what she knew Lucas just enjoyed doing it.

Still, the connection was what he was getting at, and he didn't say anything more.

He didn't need to.

"You'd have done very well in Slytherin after all."

"Am I to take that as a compliment?"

"Yes."

"And am I to take that as a yes?"

"Yes."

[] [] [] - Anna

Tyler and Anna walked silently up to their dormitories, arms in hand. Ironically, the loudest Gryffindor and the Hufflepuff who refused to shut up had no need for words as they let the stairs carry them up to the towers. The sun was peaking over the hills towards the North sea, but no one was going to wake up for a while yet after a night spent up watching the clock.

The pair of them made it past the sleeping paintings, before arriving at the nearest tower, which happened to be Tylers. They paused outside the door, as Anna held back. Even after four years of having her friends in the other houses, she was hesitant to enter after years of patriotic pride among the most dyed in the wool house.

"Well… goodnight." she said quietly, as he looked down at her from the ledge before the door. He paused, before drawing her into a hug at neck height, and she responded by hugging him back around the chest. They held each other for some time, before Anna released, and then he did the same. He nodded, before turning away and shutting the door behind him. She stood for some time, thinking back.

"I love you."

Tyler looked at her as if for the first time. Not unwarranted, given this was the only the second time either had said that. They sat, snow continuing to rise around them.

"What did you say?" Tyler whispered, as they faced each other, and time stood still.

"I…"

She stopped, before finishing, more determined.

"I love you!"

Taken aback by her sudden aggressiveness, he leaned back and gave his lopsided gentle grin. "You better know I love you too."

They had been mute the whole way back, up to Tylers departure. Anna began to wander aimlessly, restless. Hogwarts was eerie when empty, almost like a haunted house. There were a few posters about the place displaying advertising the school ball a week or so in the future. The dustlight scattered across her field of vision, as the moonlight pierced through the disparate cloud falling across the wall in streaks, as she explored the ground floor. The quad seemed almost like a church courtyard straight out of her home town of Poznań, fully stone with Romanesque arches lining the outside of the white grass.

The silence of the night was abruptly by a dull thud, followed by muffled shouting coming from the main building. Anna paused, before shooting back inside, sprinting across the polished floor towards the clock tower, where the paths to generic rooms lay ahead. Another thud came from the rightmost one, as she rushed in.

And there, in the middle of a dead classroom, stood Lucas, who took no note of her intrusion, hauling what appeared to be enchanted dummies about the place.

She watched the teen go about his work of setting them up, before moving silently to the centre of the room, as she realised she was holding her breath in anticipation as he kneeled, and whispered a charm into his wand.

Suddenly, the dummies vanished, before one appeared ahead of her, and it gave a dull noise, causing Lucas to whip round and aim square at the noise.

"Stupefy!"

He hissed the stun, as a translucent bolt shot outwards towards the dummy, and by extension her. She shrieked as the bolt passed her by two feet, before breathing a sigh of relief.

"WHO'S THERE?"

She shrieked for a second time as his tone shot through the dummy to her, ironically much more accurate than his spell. She pooped out from her hiding place, whispering "It's Anna…"

He sighed, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, as she realised he was sweating. He whispered over "What are you doing up this late?"

She could have laughed at him, as she replied "Kettle calling pot Lucas!"

He sighed again, a habit of his, as he responded "Practising. I'd usually do it earlier, but there you go. Not going to miss a day on my schedule."

Anna paused, before catching on. "This is Laila's doing."

He gave a glum nod. "It's for the best. While it's troublesome, it allows me the most optimal day, with working on the show, presenting, socialising, and yes, working on my magical proficiencies. We are in a school remember."

She nodded. That made sense. While he was the sort of person keen to make the most of potential, he was generally to relaxed to get on it. A schedule was the obvious solution, but getting him to write on would have been next to impossible. But as she rethought that statement, she came across an oddity.

"You had to get a schedule in order for you to SOCIALISE?"

He stopped, and looked incredibly flustered as he realised he'd been caught.

"A bit."

"A bit?"

"Yeah."

"How much?"

He didn't respond, giving her a fairly good idea of how much they'd be seeing Lucas if not for Laila. He knew all he needed to, but was inactive. Still, it stung to see where his social drive lay, even though she had no doubt he had the best intentions.

"So what are you up to after this?" Anna asked, trying to move the conversation along. He leaned back on a seat, responding "Sleep hopefully, but there's an interesting revelation coming up soon."

"Go on?"

"Laila's going to get her uncle in for an interview."

She recoiled a little. That was awesome! She was about to go into detail on how awesome this was, but was interrupted by a bark from the back of the room.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"

She flew backwards in surprise as she looked towards the furious figure of her nemesis, Mr Hagee.

"Just chatting sir" she whispered hurriedly, scared of his sudden appearance.

"I" the man hissed "am allowing Lucas to use one of my rooms. YOU are intruding. What. Are. You. Doing?"

"Just talking..." she said after a long pause, to which he leapt on with the response "About..?"

"Lucas is getting a guest on for the show."

This appeared to be news to him. "Who?"

"Faust, Thomas Faust."

He paused, before his face grew back in what could pass for horror, as he stepped back in surprise. Lucas, having no eyesight, didn't catch his shock, but Anna saw it clear as day.

What was his investment in Thomas?

Recovering, he nodded, and whispered over "Be out in ten minutes.." and he left in a hurry.

Neither of them said anything for some time, both deep in thought, before they turned back to one another, and she saw Lucas was beginning his practise again, as she watched him attempt to hit moving dummies with varying charms, as he grew more frustrated as he only scored one out of every four or so, even with audio cues He eventually resigned himself to muse over his results, leaving Anna to ask "Are you alright? You're not looking too motivated."

He sighed. "Motivation? Mmm… no, not really. Isn't that funny. I guess not seeing can make your practical skills a little poor."

"Don't act like that" she scorned "You can do this, just try harder and you can do anything!"

"Tyler's rubbing off on you." he deadpanned with a sly grin, causing her to reply with some self awareness "He'd tell you to work as hard a all of us, and it'll be fine, but that's not what I'm going to tell you."

As he looked up with a renewed curiosity, she grinned and continued "You should keep going as far as you can for as long as you can. Only you can make yourself strong, that's what important."

He looked up, totally caught off guard by the surprisingly selfish advice.

"Hmm… now that is some food for thought…

I may just do that."

 **Sorry about the delay, my bad. Please review, I'm getting lonely! ~Eth0**


	7. Preparations

Chapter 7 - Preparation

[] [] [] - Tyler

"Absolutely not."

"Oh come on, what's wrong with it?"

"DID YOU READ THE BLOODY QUESTION?"

"I WROTE IT!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, BOTH OF YOU!"

Tyler rubbed his hand against his forehead as Laila and Lucas engaged in their favorite activity. Arguing. They were at least in good spirits, and Anna was laughing her head off, but Tyler was not amused. Thomas had wholeheartedly agreed to Laila's proposition, which actually represented a massive problem. They had to come up with questions before he arrived, which caused some butting of heads. Laila wanted to asked largely soft questions, so as to not piss him off. "We can get him to come back, and regular access." she had put it. Lucas vehemently disagreed, claiming that if they only had him on once and asked proper questions, it would be worth it.

And Tyler was stuck in the middle.

"Come on, it's only asking him why he said-"

"It's an interview, not an ambush!"

"SHUT UP!"

Both Lucas and Laila hushed themselves and looked down at their shoes like children who had been caught reaching into the cookie jar. They were all too similar. Tyler glared at the pair of them while Anna stood chuckling in the background. On the topic of Anna, she had brought up Mr Hagees… interest in Faust, from both a few nights ago and during the broadcast two months ago.

"So…" she concluded "How likely that something shady is going on with him?"

Tyler spoke first "10%. I'm still dubious, it's probably a coincidence. Innocent until proven guilty."

"Innocent until proven guilty doesn't impose on speculation. I'd say about 25%. Twice is odd."

Lucas visibly stiffened, as he saw it was his turn. He said nothing for awhile before passing the buck with "I want to hear Anna's odds first."

There was an even longer pause, before Anna stated "30.", with some hesitance, as the other two looked towards a Lucas deep in thought, who eventually reared up in his chair and grinned.

"I think you're all wrong. 85, at least."

You could hear a pin drop in the room, as Lucas floated that percentage, before Tyler calmly said "He… may have a point. I'll meet you at 60."

Laila sighed, before nodding, and Anna, forced by being the last one into a number she likely thought was excessive, finally said "Okay… it may be as high as 50."

Upon reflection, Tyler realised exactly what Lucas had done. Lucas probably didn't hold Hagee's guilt at 85, if anything he thought it was in the sixties. But by shifting the realm of respectable debate so far askew, he managed to make the compromise position the one that he already agreed with. A clever ploy, which he suspected of him trying again with these bloody questions. If he was to be believed, he wanted to roast Faust into the ground. Eventually, Tyler just gave up, and said "Listen, we can ask some of Laila's questions, and some of Lucas' questions."

Their reactions to his compromising was again markedly similar; grouchy acceptance. Over the next few hours, they sorted themselves out.

"So, what is your position on muggleborns in government?"

"That's fine."

"I still can't believe we have to ask that question in 2022."

"Well, for both your sakes lets hope he gives the right answer."

"There is no right answer."

"Do you want to me to explain this again Ty?"

"Moving on."

"Yes. What would be your position on muggle governments?"

"Fine."

"All fine."

"Who would you nominate for Minister for Magic when Friedrich Weber resigns?"

He noticed Laila frown, but she said "Alright."

"What is your biggest issue you are running on?"

"Can't see any issue. Next-"

"You bemoan the muggleborn rights extremists, but what will you do about the pure blooded terrorists such as Archibald McDermot, who you publically defended the other day, and others?" Lucas suddenly hissed, cutting off Tyler.

"Absolutely bloody not. You're putting the man in a corner."

"Laila.."

"I'm not going back on this Lucas."

Tyler watched Lucas sigh, and rub the back of his head, not saying a word for some time. He looked focused, before his appearance altered as he seemed to make a decision.

"Alright."

All the other three in the room were shocked as he just accepted that. It was so out of character, so bizarre that one couldn't help but wonder at it. What was he doing? Trying to get credit so he could push an issue he was particularly passionate about later?

After a pause where no one was sure what to say, Tyler awkwardly moved on to the next question.

"Who are you going to have as your advisors?"

There seemed to be a consensus that that question was fine, before Tyler announced "That's all of the questions we have. Anyone have another suggestion?"

Tylers eye rested on Lucas, who was quiet before dropping another bombshell.

"Why do you want to be leader of the entire magical world?"

There was no response for some time as the question sunk in. This was what he had been building up to. Laila was the first to recover.

"What?"

Lucas pointed himself towards her voice. "What's the issue? If he can't answer that, then…"

He grinned at the others, as they recognised that any answer would be futile. If he couldn't say why he wanted to be Head of the International Confederation of Wizards, then he had no business there.

Laila hung her head as she reluctantly let out the words "Fine."

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Lucas smiled, but no one else rose to his test. He'd pissed the lot of them off, and he knew it.

Not that he cared, Tyler silently mused, as Lucas' smug grin contrasted Anna and Laila's scowls.

Only a few hours now…

[] [] [] - Lucas

Lucas slugged down the last of his water as he heard the clap of the apparition, as if lightning had struck, from the other room. He was here, and the sound of Tyler standing across from him confirmed it as the door swung open, preluding the arrival of the man of the hour. As the door shut, he heard Tyler move forward, likely to shake Thomas's hand, as Lucas remained stoically in his seat. He heard two men as well as the the candidate and his friend. As Tyler and Thomas presumably released hands, the elder opened the discussion.

"It's very good to see you both this afternoon. I'll admit this came out of nowhere, but it's never an issue to get the message out."

It seemed addressed at the pair of them, so Lucas picked up the conversation. "Nonetheless, I appreciate your coming. Please, sit down. Tyler, would you mind escorting these two gentlemen inside? I would but..."

He could practically sense Tyler hide a scowl as he opened the door to show the men to the other room, leaving him alone with Thomas Faust, who gave a slow chuckle.

"Wasted no time getting rid of him?" Thomas suddenly started, his deep voice taking a more playful tone. Lucas didn't reply, instead mentally working him out as he moved past the recording equipment onto the chair across from him. They weren't using the open studio/classroom, opting for the safer office room. He was… about 150 pounds, give or take for shoe size, based on echo, which was hit and miss at best.

Give or take a lot then.

Nonetheless, the man sat down and made himself comfortable, before trying again "So how's the house been in my absence?"

"Noisy" Lucas defaulted, causing Thomas to laugh again. "But then again everything is noisy. Your riddle's still there by the way."

There was a pause, before Thomas simply said in a curious, but intrigued tone "Which one?"

"The three gods with the single question. Am I right?"

A pause.

The pause continued.

The pause was now concerning.

Then he spoke.

"A man after my own heart. How'd you do it?"

"An educated guess. It takes a certain man to borrow George Boolos's famous puzzle for credit. A similar man who may run for the highest office, and be acquainted with more than a few Slytherins."

What went unsaid is what that told Lucas about the man in the chair. He had one hell of an ego, and was willing to at the very least rip off ideas. His motivations were curious, as being one of almost two houses at once made such matters difficult. If he was a pure Slytherin like his family, then he would be easier to comprehend, but he was stuck trying to work out how much the man across from him was like Laila, and how much he was like himself.

"Well done. So it's still there? Heh."

It was all Lucas could do not to frown in confusion. This was not the hawkish, uptight man Laila promised. He was almost disappointed. He wanted a challenge, and was almost ashamed of himself as he realised it.

"I'm back."

Lucas's head jerked towards the noise of Tyler arriving, as he came to the realisation that Thomas Faust was scarily adept at disarming him.

It certainly seemed that Lucas wasn't the only one making deductions, as he silently bristled. Tyler sat down opposite him, as they shared a script, one in English, one in Welsh Braille, or Côd Braille Cymraeg. Tyler went about the business of setting up all the recording equipment, as in the next room, Laila and Anna monitored the broadcasting gear.

"Testing, testing, we clear?" Tyler spoke into his mic, before a pause, and then came Laila's reply "All good in here."

"Alright" Lucas declared. "Live in five, four, three, two, one,

LIVE"

[] [] [] - Anna

Anna sat across from Laila, separated from their boyfriends by a thin wall, sitting quiet with just themselves and a massive computer. They sat alone, awkwardly, as the lone window betrayed the lateness of the hours. Laila was still fuming, and Anna had long given up trying to soothe her. Her anger was likely confounded by the proximity of her uncle, whom she found at best embarrassing, at worst a nightmare out of the Twilight Zone. They sat in old, moldy yet comfortable chairs stolen from the library downstairs, with dubious levels of permission, as the silence droned on, the only moving thing being the posters advertising the ball tomorrow night. Lucas was taking Laila, and she was taking Tyler, and they'd all bought gowns and suits. Buying Lucas a shirt and jacket had been a memorable experience.

The staff was on high alert, as this sort of visit was truly unprecedented. There wasn't any teachers in the room, but they prowled the halls outside like bats out of hell. The entire sixth floor had practically been warded off, with the teens being the youngest people in the entire area by twenty odd years, the next being Thomas, in his mid thirties. Lucas was actually the oldest of the lot of them, approaching seventeen, followed by Anna, then Laila, then Tyler, who had turned sixteen two months ago.

Then, as the silence grew to a piercing cry, Laila finally spoke.

"Please don't fuck this up…"

Anna looked at her friend, before chuckling. "I'm worried about our lads in twelve different ways, but they're not incompetent. Relax."

Laila sighed, responding "A little too competent.", causing them both varying degrees of amusement, before Anna said, recalling their meeting on the morning of New Years Day "You should relax about Lucas. He's under some stress."

She chuckled "I'm well aware."

As Anna pondered if this was really the case, she confirmed it with a half ironic "He's been working hard on this, but he's just wrong."

After wrapping her head round that, Anna responded "Ja Jebie, get over it. You two arguing is half the relationship right there."

When she'd heard that Lucas and Laila were going out, Anna had hopped on board the ship with rampant fervour, annoying the pair of them with intentionally probing questions. She didn't even mind that they had beaten her and Tyler to the first kiss, though she had gotten hers only a few weeks later. Laila saw her enthusiasm coming a mile away and beat her to the punch by hissing "Halt die Fresse! I don't need romance advice from you!"

Anna grinned, sealing the deal with "Oh, do tell.", cheekily grinning at the now more openly cross Laila, who responded "I'm sorry, who beat who to the kiss?"

Touche…

"Well played" she admitted, before reaching for a glass of water, as the pair returned to sitting in silence. Time passed slowly, as the old clock crept up towards the nine o'clock mark. The silence was broken a second time as Anna, emboldened by the ,previous conversation, asked "You doing okay? You're not that hostile to each other, right?"

They wouldn't in any likelihood be meeting, but it was still an interesting point, to which she replied "It's… cool but not hostile. The last time we talked… it was several years ago, at the end of the school year. I returned home, and he was there. We had a brief talk, and he left the next day. We've exchanged letters three times since, not including Lucas's proposition."

Anna mmed, as she mulled over this "Is this par for the rest of the family?"

Laila nodded. "They're all fawning over the grandmother to try and get a slice when she keels over. She's gone years longer than predicted, but she's not gonna last much longer. My closest familial relationship is with my parents, but it's not much better. And yourself?"

Anna shuddered. She couldn't fathom valuing family like that. She knew Laila was above that, but that was still a scary prospect. "I can barely get away from the lot of them. We live out in the suburbs of an old Polish city. It's a sorta Georgian house, and we managed to get the entire extended family into it. It's lovely, but good luck getting attention."

Laila nodded, apparently sympathising, before the door swung open, as Tyler walked in, followed by two men. He seemed irritated, as he showed the two men to some chairs, before leaving as quickly as he came. Laila's face visibly screwed with puzzlement, at the 20 year old man closest to the door, with cropped, silver hair, sat down opposite her.

"RICARD?"

"Hello again Laila."

"Laila, who the hell is this guy?"

Laila paused from her sudden realisation to explain "It's Ricard Lutece, a Slytherin from back in first year."

It was Anna's turn to look confused, before piecing it together.

"YOU BULLIED LUCAS IN FIRST YEAR YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Anna noticed Laila wince, obviously having remembered that, though she didn't deem it worthy bringing up. Well screw her! She was about to continue, before Ricard raised a calming hand.

"The blind boy? Where is he now? Giving an interview to my employer. Relax, all is forgiven."

After mentally tripping twenty times over with the seven different ways that made less than no sense, Anna realised the broadcaster had crackled into life.

"Testing, testing, we clear?"

Laila moved towards her transmitter, responding quickly.

"All good in here."

A brief silence, before the countdown began.

"Alright" Lucas declared. "Live in five, four, three, two, one,

LIVE"

* * *

 **I'm just going to upload all the chapters so I can start writing again. ~Eth0**


	8. Action

Chapter 8 - Action

[] [] [] - Tyler

"So what's your strategy for holding out against Hosoda?"

The interview had been going on for some time now, and after breaking the candidate in with introductions, however unnecessary given the person they were interviewing, before a few softball questions despite Lucas's prior protestations that this should be a two hour roasting. He seemed more satisfied now they were moving towards more substantive questions as Tyler posed the Hosoda question, rather than asking about his personal life. The audience had been hyped out for this for two weeks, with excitement reaching a fever pitch, as fifth year classes ground to a halt this afternoon with loud anticipation. Nonetheless, Faust seemed well prepared for the question, responding quickly and instinctively with what was almost certainly a talking point.

"He's done well in Asia, naturally, but this is our home territories, and if we can secure England, we will secure the nod. We believe that we can make it with the support of the base, as our ideas are better."

Before Tyler could move on, Lucas pounced with a follow up question, saying "And can you surmise the ideas that appeal to the British and European base?"

This took a little longer, likely because, as Lucas had told him ad nauseam, the mainstream press never pushed for answers beyond the initial answer. Tyler himself was guilty of this, wanting to respect what the person had to say and not press them, but he reluctantly went along. This was the man who wanted to represent the world, and thus people needed to know as much as possible about them. However Thomas returned to form quickly, and anyone only listening and not watching their faces, like a large proportion of their audience, wouldn't notice it, as he responded "We want to take a new approach. We are going to redo the decades of crumbling magical infrastructure, and fix what has been made wrong."

Lucas very obviously disliked this answer, but nodded to his side, indicating Tyler to ask the next question. He would have liked to press further, but they were pressed for time. Tyler sighed as he read the next question.

"Do you agree with this electoral college system of elections?"

This question had had some revising, as Lucas initially penned down "Do you agree with this unpopular electoral college system of elections?", however he himself was the most vocally against it as he realised that was a leading question. It was an odd question, but he still had a good grasp of the answer, responding "It is a shame to see some people get a few blows unnecessarily from this, but we do have it for a reason."

A reason he neglected to share, but Tyler moved on.

"So, what is your position on muggleborns in government?"

The question didn't throw him, but he seemed out of his element, unpractised, as he responded, more carefully, "We should judge based off of merit, allowing our best to rise to the top."

If Lucas didn't like the first answer, this one practically sent him boiling, though the fact his eyes were obscured hid it very well. He coolled himself, responding, "What would be those metrics?"

Tyler actually joined Thomas in glaring at Lucas, who was pushing seemingly for the sake of pushing. Feeling the temperature in the room rise, Tyler fanned himself with his cap. The room was small, with the equipment taking up half the room and pointing at their faces, which was practically boiling them alive, despite the lack of central heating in the castle usually giving a stone chill to its inhabitants. Lucas seemed unaffected, and Thomas was dropping a few beads of sweat, though he managed it well. The people in the broadcasting room were likely sweltering too. His thoughts briefly turned to them, as the room had been quiet, as Laila and Anna seemed to be in some sort of mutual agreement. Was it about them? He pondered this, snapping out of it. Lucas would never worry about something like this.

What were they worried about?

[] [] [] - Laila

What they were worried about was ironically intrinsically linked to what he was worried about, as the pair of them gripped their chins in worried anticipation at both Lucas' aggressiveness and how Thomas may respond. Laila was monitoring the equipment, as Anna simply listened. Normally they were left alone, but she was curious as to how their audience would respond to this, and made sure everything was a-okay. There was a three second delay in case someone really fucked up, and she had told him in no uncertain terms that she would use it.

He was not pleased.

And after hearing his question about both the follow up question and its inspecific response, she was almost tempted to use it. While no one had come to blows, Lucas was getting visibly agitated and Tyler was becoming strained as Thomas answered the question Lucas asked.

"Well we can clearly judge individuals on their abilities, and how they make it in the wizarding world. A rising tide lifts all boats, and education is the foundation for an equal opportunity."

The response came to Laila's mind almost as fast as it came to Lucas' tongue.

"But someone raised-"

"What would be your position on muggle governments?"

Laila practically recoiled across the length of the room as Tyler actually cut Lucas off, and from what she saw Lucas was almost as surprised. She guessed it was fair given how Lucas cut off Tyler during the pre-production meeting. She knew what Lucas was going to ask. He was going to ask if someone raised in a muggle family would have a distinct disadvantage in terms of general knowledge that could only be systematic, and not due to any biological difference. She could also hazard a guess at the answer, a bit of word salad with terms like "education" and "dependency" to satisfy the interviewer, which in this case wouldn't work. But Tyler cut off the circle jerk mid cycle, moving on. She admittedly had to credit him with growing a pair, something lampshaded by Thomas raising an amused eyebrow before answering the question.

"Of course, we need to maintain security through separation."

This was getting annoying now, and as she peered into the screen she saw this was grating on Lucas's nerves. She looked to her side, seeing Anna wrest her hands on her chin in anxiety as she sensed the palpable tension between the three men in the room, and as a result of all the focus on the next room, the broadcasting room had descended into an awkward silence. She looked at Ricard and his colleague maintain a perfect poker face, a trait Laila often held over her other three friends who practically wore their hearts on theirs sleeves compared to her. The most hilarious thing was that among her family, herself and Thomas were considered the most emotional of the lot. With other people, she was considered a practical sociopath, but when this was brought up, she always laughed and pointed to her boyfriend.

On the topic of her friends, Anna seemed on the edge of her seat as Tyler asked the next question.

"Who would you nominate for Minister for Magic when Friedrich Weber resigns?"

[] [] [] - Lucas

If Lucas could, he would have rolled his eyes. Another softball. It took every fiber of his being to not snap at Tyler, especially after he was cut off by his friend. Not that he could aim a punch, or, as Anna learned the other week, aim a spell. The thought bubbling back to his consciousness brought a slightly amused grin to his face, before Thomas's response brought him back to the depressing present.

"I actually do have an idea, I'm hoping to nominate Aiden Da Carrera. He has experience both working alongside me, and with the current British system."

Da Carrera. He knew that name from its daughter, the vile Maria, who managed even to this day to turn his stomach. Over the two years he had done this project, he had covered Aiden twice, and each time the one word that always seemed to strike him was fake. The man was teflon, never quite seeming like he meant anything he said, a trait avoided by his colleague in the chair opposite him. He would never know how the man looked, though from what he'd been told he was as well presented in dress as in word, unlike his practically robotic friend.

"What is your biggest issue you are running on?"

He clenched his fist.

Another fucking soft question. If he couldn't answer this he had no business running for office. Tyler may as well have asked what newspapers he read. It was getting his blood boiling at this point, and he was barely listening as Thomas regurgitated his whole Social Darwinist rhetoric, and as he finished up, Lucas snapped.

"You bemoan the muggleborn rights extremists, but what will you do about the pure blooded terrorists such as Archibald McDermot, who you publically defended the other day, and others?"

Silence.

He could hear the wheels turning across both rooms. Tyler might explode any moment, Laila may well be banging on the glass, and Anna would be fretting. The only one he couldn't predict was Thomas, who seemed almost perfectly tailored to elude him.

More silence.

"Lucas…"

Oh, so Tyler was angry. Predictable, but disappointing. It was almost as if he-

"Of course, I can see what you mean."

The fuck?

"I can see the issue but one cannot ignore the difference in rhetoric between one and the other. Archibald was a terrorist, but I defended his rhetoric on his policies, but he took it too far."

He hadn't expected an answer to be honest, but he took a lot more out of that than was said. His tone of voice seemed completely casual, as if an invitation. He seemed to almost be asking him to come and play. A lack of response from Tyler gave Lucas the incentive to push back.

"But shouldn't someone in your position try to look at it from a more neutral stance?"

"Oh, is this the neutrality bias I recall you complaining about?"

"No, the difference between neutrality and objectivity is avoiding said neutrality bias, and making a decision from the facts. As muggle Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously quipped, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. In this case, a pure blood terrorist is as right as a muggle terrorist."

"Funny, I recall Elie Wiezel saying that we must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented, and make no mistake these people are tormentors, and you better believe I'm taking a side."

It was almost too funny. Neither really cared about the show at this point, or even the debate to a large extent. They were the, both of them, just enjoying the back and forth, verbal chess. The world barely mattered as the two enjoyed their game, with the fact that thousands of people were listening was almost inconsequential.

It occurred in the back of his mind that the others may not find it as funny as he responded.

"I am taking a side; terrorism in all its forms, and any example should receive equal punishment independent of ideology, or else we would have partisan laws which are uneven. I'm not religious, but all lives are sacred."

"Some are less sacred than others."

Lucas' blood ran cold as Thomas uttered that reply, and for the first time the man had truly hit back at him with a sound blow.

He loved it.

Meanwhile, Tyler returned to try and regain control of the room as Lucas paused, asking "Who are you going to have as your advisors?"

Sounding almost.. Disappointed, Thomas responded with a list of names Lucas was vaguely aware of, before Tyler led Lucas into asking his last question.

"Why do you want to be leader of the entire magical world?"

[] [] [] - Anna

Anna noticed Thomas's odd behaviour, though she doubted anyone else noted it, as pandemonium had broken out in the broadcast room, Laila practically tearing her hair out. The cooler heads of Ricard and his colleague seemed to be prevailing however, as they noted Mr. Faust being perfectly civil in the interview room, and not objecting in the least. She had eventually calmed, and sat content to watch the show, as Lucas asked his last question. Laila huffed slightly, still not liking it but it was certainly less offensive than the previous question Lucas had sprung on him.

But she had nonetheless noticed some oddities in his behaviour, like the lives being less sacred comment, and his overall tone towards Lucas versus towards towards Tyler. She'd have brought it up if she was as excitable or open as she was in her first few years, but she was a lot more reserved now.

Thomas ran his fingers through his hair, before responding "Because I feel that I have the greatest ability to solve the world's problems."

And then he stood and left the room.

Anna almost had to do a double take, as he gave no warning or signal, as Laila rushed towards the cutoff button, to stop the broadcast. Reaching it with moments to spare, the screen above the keyboard went black. Faust's assistants had been equally as surprised, falling over themselves to get out to aide their boss, who passed by the door, giving Laila a curt nod, and departing.

After the two girls were left alone, the room was still and silent, neither really sure what to do, until a loud, high pitched thud erupted from the other room, followed by a dull groan. Looking between each other, they rushed out into the hallway, and into the broadcast room, where Tyler was towering over Lucas, who was clutching a bloodied nose.

"The fuck was that?" Tyler roared, as he clipped Lucas' ear, sending his head flying towards the wall, hitting the other side. Now he was bleeding from his right temple as well, and Tyler wasn't stopping, as he kicked the teen in the gut, causing Laila to call out in an authoritative tone "Stop!"

But he wasn't having any of it, as he hammered him with his feet again and again, before Anna had enough, running up towards him and grabbing his arm and yanking him back, sending the blonde sprawling onto the table. Anna was the strongest of the four of them, much to Tylers frequent embarrassment, and in this case, pain, as she held Tylers body down, while Lucas glowered in Tylers general direction.

"What was that about?" Laila asked.

"You fucking liar.." Tyler whimpered. "You told us you wouldn't, you lied to us, trash."

"Calm down!" Anna yelled, increasing the pressure on Tylers arm, almost as close to tears as Tyler. In the background, Lucas slowly went to stand, blood pouring from his nose and ear in thick pulpy bits. He slowly approached Tyler, standing over with a face of thunder, slowly speaking down to his friend. "Are you surprised? Did you think I wouldn't? This is our job, and I'd be surprised if the audience didn't agree that your shitty questions did nothing to educate them on the issues."

Tyler stared up at his colleague with manic eyes, yelling "And what about you? You and him were in your own little world!"

Lucas didn't respond, not even moving his face. But then again, with Lucas a lack of a response was a response. Anna herself had noticed what Tyler was going on about, but Lucas was stoic as ever, even as Tyler bared his soul out in front of him. Laila was the first to speak, saying "Anna, keep him here until he calms down, I'm bringing Lucas down to the infirmary."

Looking down at Tyler condescendingly, Lucas departed with Laila, leaving the pair alone. Anna released Tyler, who promptly rolled over and sat back into his chair, running his hand through his hair, silently swearing as Anna glared at her boyfriend.

"Why did you freak out? He was full of himself, sure, but don't be the one to start shit." she told him, feeling a little bad about going behind Lucas' back, but like Tyler, she was all about telling the truth. The biggest difference was that Tyler would be more inclined to break rules he disagreed with.

Which was one of the reasons why Lucas was downstairs clutching a bleeding nose.

He sighed, nodding but still visibly angry, though he tried to mask it. "I get it, but-"

"There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it." she interrupted, causing him to look up in surprise. "If you have a principle, make a promise, whatever, you stand by it. Their very nature is that they're immune to changing circumstances."

She paused, before sighing. "Promise me you won't hurt him, or any of us, again."

He looked down, and nodding again.

"I promise."

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	9. Reaction

Chapter 9 - Reaction

[] [] [] - Lucas

"Urghh..."

The Ravenclaw could barely think straight as he sat up in his bed, groaning. He had gone to the infirmary, and was given a vile substance through the nose, fixing it but leaving him with a horrid migraine. The world, with no visual reference, was shaking like an earthquake, even after he swung his legs off the bed and onto the floor, which was swiftly followed by a shriek from around his leg.

"The hell?" He cried as he looked around redundantly, before a familiar Anglo-German voice cried "Scheisse!"

"LAILA?"

"YES, NOW GET THE HELL OFF MY CHEST!"

The loud voice was very un-Laila, but he didn't question it as he scrambled backwards onto the bed in a crouched position, as Laila explained.

"I was asleep, and you knocked me onto the floor!"

That raised a whole slew of questions in and of itself, largely..

"YOU WERE SLEEPING WITH ME?"

"No… I brought you down to the infirmary.. And they gave you the medicine and you fell asleep.. I stayed awhile and must have fallen asleep myself."

He shook his head, still confused. "But when did I get back to my room?"

She paused, causing him to raise serious mental eyebrows, before she whispered to him "You never left. You've woken everyone in the infirmary up."

It was his turn to pause, as he could practically hear a penny drop as he felt many eyes baring into him, as he could only whisper "Sorry..", as Laila all but slapped him.

"Do you think I'd sleep with your shaggy ass?"

For once, Lucas was ready to joke off the top of his head "Do you really want me to answer that?"

He braced himself for more scorn but she only sighed. "Immature prick."

"I'm in the business." he chuckled, sitting up in the bed with Laila sitting opposite him. "I mean, you agreed to go to the ball tonight with me." he concluded, before sighing. They'd gotten in around 10 pm, shortly after the interview. He'd been in a foul mood, not helped by the medicine, before evidently going to sleep. Then again, everything had been a tad blurry on the sound department. He sighed, and stood in his nightgown in the room and walked right into the next bed. Somewhere, a million miles away, he heard Laila sigh.

He took in the room, stomping about and exploring the edges of his world with his fingers to visualise his surroundings. It was not a segregated bed, as he swiftly and embarrassingly learned as he accidentally laid his hand on the legs of the girl in the next bed. After much apologising, he sighed, and turned back to Laila, facing her for the first time, and asked "So can I leave now?"

He didn't get an answer, only the faintest traces of stifled laughter.

"Well, what's so funny?"

The pause continued, before she finally said "Nothing."

If he could have raised his eyebrow, he would have, but he shook his head and dismissed the notion as he reached into his drawer, sending clattering sounds of keys, ink pots and other miscellaneous possessions throughout the ward, causing Laila to finch- he heard it from all the way on the opposite side of the bed it was so noticeable- before throwing on his Hogwarts cloak. He'd always dressed clumsily, he would never know the difference anyway, but as soon as he turned back to Laila she paused again, annoying him.

"Okay, what did I miss?"

She refused to answer, until he glared.

"Your nose is literally the size of a balloon."

…

…..

"Relevant information you could have told me before I got the attention of the room."

She chuckled. "There for you when you need me."

After he took the appropriate medicine which involved the vital and somewhat disgusting removal of fluid from his nose, and after remembering to ask specifically what he looked like, having learned his lesson, he left the infirmary with nothing but a sore head and a bad mood. He slouched, not much of a change, but now he was more out and about inside school hours, he was noticing changes here and there since this time last year.

While it wasn't as bad as the bullying of first year, all the way up to last year he had needed to get out of people's way, or push his way through, usually the latter. However as he encountered the first few individuals, one seemed to rear up and move, much to Lucas's confusion, which must have shown on his face, as one said "Great job last night with Ty!"

"More like against Ty. You could fucking smell the tension."

"Yeah, he kicked your ass Luke!"

"As if. More like Tyler was waltzing up to blo-"

At this point he dialled out, not wanting to hear what was being not so subtly suggested. He wasn't angry with his friend, just disappointed.

Except for the punch to the face, but they didn't know that. For the punch he was still uncertain. He'd known he would receive a fair few punches, indeed others had already done so over his Hogwarts education. He'd actually penned Anna down to being the most violent one of the four, but there you go. As his steps clacked down the stairs followed by Laila's softer, more acute click click of her higher heels onto the hard wooden stairs as they shifted round into their places. He walked down to breakfast with his head held high as he received the odd whoop of recognition and one boo. In truth, he detested the attention. It took away from the points he made, and as a result he actively ignored anyone who tried to call him out, which Laila didn't bring up much to his surprise as they began to talk again as the stairs opened up into the ground floor, where there were a sea of individuals spread over the hall, where people moved out of their way, in part because of Lucas's popularity and no one wanting to get on Laila's bad side.

"I guess it went down well then" he murmured to her, before clarifying "The interview". He spoke with some cheek, knowing full well she didn't like what he'd said, but making an educated guess the audience had.

She huffed, responding "Best rated show so far."

He felt fit to burst with pride. Certainly, he'd had some influence after all. He'd gotten to show Thomas for what he was, and did it with an audience.

"Good luck getting him back though."

The new voice had come from his left, though he was very familiar with it.

'Good morning Tyler. Calmed down?"

Tyler grumped, well aware what Lucas was getting at. "At least I didn't knock the comedy out of you. Yes, I've calmed down. I stayed the night with Anna."

Before Lucas allowed himself to draw that statement to its logical and somewhat uncomfortable conclusion, he said "Good to hear. I assume she's with you?"

"Yup!" came the confirmation from the bubbly Gryffindor, as he nodded in response. "And for the dance!"

"Want to sit together?"

The suggestion came from Tyler, and it made sense. Lucas had been sitting with Laila for months, and there was no way the "house pride" Anna would suggest it, and Laila was too cautious to suggest it, though she agreed instantly, saying "Sure", to which Lucas agreed with "Makes sense.", at which point Anna had to cave.

"Fiiine. But only if you're at my table."

That wasn't really a problem for any of them, though he listened closely to Laila's answer. She, as a well to do Slytherin, had appearances to keep up. He didn't mind, but it surprised him as she answered perfectly happily with "Fine by me Anna." If she was not happy, she hid it well.

They walked in as a group, their footsteps forming a tight rhythm as they moved towards the Gryffindor table. He sat down after the other three, after waiting to make sure he wasn't sitting on anyone, which had happened before.

"You feeling better Lucas?"

The icebreaker was asked by Anna, obviously concerned but he waved it off. "Fine. Just had a little bruising." he responded, causing Laila to hide a laugh, though she was curiously silent. He asked "You alright?"

She didn't respond, causing him concern, before she said "Nothing to worry over."

Well isn't that a good way to get someone to stop worrying, he thought, as Anna sighed and answered "She's getting filthy looks from the other Griffs."

She sounded disgusted, and rightly so. He was almost a little cross with Anna, as her attitude, though well founded, was the one attacking Laila. His scowl must be shown, as Tyler said "Calm down."

This he tried, as he thought. She was centered around how she had to appear to others to get her way, which normally repulsed him but with her, it was fascinating.

He sighed as he tucked into his Full English breakfast. He hated bland food, he always wanted things with rich flavour. He'd consulted the others, and apparently this obsession with flavour was unique to him, at least to the extent he described it. It was worth thinking about, which he did extensively as the small talk continued around him.

[] [] [] - Laila

"STUPEFY!"

The cry from one end of the great hall was met with a grunt at the other, as the Defence against the Dark Arts class dragged on. Maria had just grounded Anna in a duel, in the first of a best of three bout. They had been well matched, but the Italian had gotten the drop on the Pole and gotten a long range shot. The arena was a long thin rectangle down the length of the hall, littered with obstacles at shoulder height scattered about the place designed to represent a real place. The class doubled as a physical exercise class, requiring students to navigate the clutter and get shots off. It was practically a sport. Anna and Maria stood in the middle opposite each other as the second round began.

Immediately as the flag fell, Anna darted to the left, practically diving into the cover like into a body of water, tucking and rolling like a gymnast. She was the shortest of her friends, and abused that maneuverability to hide away. Maria rolled her eyes as she casually walked aside. It almost caused Laila to laugh as Maria visibly dismissed Anna's tactics as dishonorable. Even Tyler saw the funny side, though Lucas sat stoic as ever. As the pair stalked each other round the circuit, Laila focused her attention inwards, as she examined her wand in a moment of quiet thought. It was a very special wand, having chosen her in a moment when she could have died.

Instead, it picked her for her "pure intentions". Granted, she was a toddler, and held no real ill will, her having pure intentions now was dubious at best. The best conclusion she arrived at was while she did think the ends generally justified the means, and used people in exchange for being a Faust who acknowledged their existence, but she generally was in favour of "the right thing". In fact, if any of their intentions could be called into doubt it was Lucas's. Anna was operating on the same "do the right thing" modus operandi she did, and Tyler was all about equality, which was generally the right thing anyway. But Lucas, for all his great traits, his mind worked a different way. He was literally on a different wavelength. He seemed to value truth, which was great, but it was bloody sacrosanct to the guy. She still loved his cute mannerisms and slight naivety outside of his intellectual comfort zone.

Returning her gaze to the fight, she saw Anna in a lot better a position than last time, having snuck her way behind Maria and ready to fire on her. She got the drop on the Slytherin, and shouted "Expelliarmus!"

Unfortunately, Maria was on guard, and managed to strike a block, responding with "PROTEGO!", managing to deflect the shot. Maria darted into cover diagonally away from where Anna was hiding, as they fired back and forth, moving from cover to cover striking barricades and bricks but never each other. Anna was the more quick one, always on point to spot and use an advantage, but Maria was accurate, striking within inches of her target without fail. It was a closely contested fight, until Maria's slow, deliberate pace backfired, as the agile Anna fired the final blow sending the Italian sprawling onto the floor.

"Hell yeah!" she roared as her opponent picked herself up for the tiebreaker. Laila sighed as she put the wand away to think about later. This was the second last fight of the day if the clock was to be believed, and she was looking forward to a nice evenings rest before tuning in to the show.

The flag dropped again, and immediately Maria went on the offensive, fury gleaming from her eyes. She was likely enraged that this silly little girl had gotten the better of her, and unleashed a barrage of close range spells to end it quickly and humiliatingly.

That wasn't going to happen however, as Anna managed by some miracle to dodge every single shot on her way to the closest cover, causing the De Carrera to swear loudly in Italian and follow like a stalker through trench and passage, as the shorter, slier girl scampered away each time.

Laila watched with increasing intensity as Maria was wound up harder and harder as her prey evaded her, eventually leaving no traces and was circling back to flank her. She looked fit to be tied, before a sly smile came to her face.

"FUCK!" she cried as if in pain, extremely convincingly, as even Lucas sat forward in concern. Anna, the charitable spirit she was, practically leapt out of hiding to help the uninjured girl. Her plan having worked, she dropped the pretense and blasted Anna into next week.

She flew back into the wall, dust flying back as he hit. There were some protests from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff crowd, but by and large they moved on as the teacher called it.

"Maria De Carrera wins, 2:1."

They got up and shook hands, glaring at each other with varying levels of anger before departing.

"Last fight;

Lucas Beck versus Laila Faust."

"Lucas JACOBSON Beck you eejits!"

She stopped short of saying anything herself, as she was so surprised. Could Lucas even duel? Anna had confided in her that he'd been practising to little effect, but what could he do?

This was what she was thinking as she stepped up to the plate, followed thirty seconds later by Lucas, escorted by two other students. Unlike her, he seemed at ease with the situation, as he tapped his feet off the ground.

It was quiet at first, the tapping, before he increased in force, as eventually the noise drummed and echoed through the entire hall. Satisfied, he stopped, before slowly, but more surely than before, stepped up to the plate.

"We gonna get started?" he asked nonchalantly as if he hadn't just done a bizarre haca.

The teacher looked curiously at the blind teen, before sighing, and preparing to drop the flag.

Lucas looked off to the left absentmindedly.

"GO!"

Lucas immediately darted off to the right, catching her by surprise. The underweight boy was actually quite nippy. No Anna, and he had to avoid obstacles, but he was certainly agile enough, and unlike Laila was willing to sprint. She knew that he knew that she wouldn't, as he couldn't help but laugh aloud from a distance as she paced towards his location. He likely heard her steps, and was enjoying listening to her walk after him.

"Funny." she sighed as she walked around, before picking up the pace, rounding the corner he was hiding behind-

and got blasted straight into centre mass, as Lucas, the sly prick, had camped out behind cover and blasted her straight down the alley as she came into the field of view.

Well, not "view".

Nonetheless, he'd have heard exactly where she was the entire time and was already set to strike with perfect timing. It was devious, and he knew it, as he couldn't stop chuckling as he helped her up. She grumbled jovially as she stood, causing him to reply in a quiet whisper "Is there a problem dear?"

She saw the funny side. While they'd long determined she fit in perfectly in Slytherin, the jury was still out if he belonged in the blue and bronze.

"This doesn't help your case." she lampshaded.

"Whatever" he shrugged. "Round two?

"You're on." she smirked as they walked back to the centre. She kept an eye on Anna, who looked set to holler jokes up at the two of them, however she reserved herself to chuckles and blowing a kiss.

Laila made a point of not mentioning this to Lucas as they readied to begin for round two. Before the flag dropped, she asked "How are you not falling over everything?"

He smiled, tapping his feet as the flag dropped, interrupting him. He darted a second time, but Laila was prepared as she fired a bolt straight at him, missing by inches, but startling him a moment long enough to flinch with how fierce the sound was.

Her wand was the Faust familial heirloom, and it had chosen her, and as the spell rocketed through the air and wall behind him, leaving a significant mark on the brick. The wand was in tune with her, and as long as she or any Faust it hadn't fried was using it, it held significant power, almost above any wand.

Which was why the extended family were devastated to see such power go to a schoolgirl. While her parents defended her, they were definitely not where the buck stopped in the familial hierarchy. While she was eventually allowed to keep it, she'd received extensive training, as well as the reluctant acceptance that she would be the heir to the family after her father's and Thomas's generation.

What this was a roundabout way of saying was that this was one hell of a wand in the right hands.

And she put this to great effect, leading the loud charges ahead of Lucas, stopping his attempts to hide again and again, closing in for the final blow as he was left with nowhere to go, as he shouted "Protego" to shield himself, only to have the spell she'd cast pierce right through it, shattering the supposed barrier charm and striking him right in the breast, sending him falling back onto his ass.

There was a curious pause, as the audience saw she'd effectively destroyed his shield, a rare and noteworthy feat, and the implications of this were not lost on Lucas judging by his facial expression. He seemed surprised, then curious, then amused. For someone whom it could not be said he wore his heart on his sleeve, his thoughts were surprisingly visible when he was distracted. He stood without aid, and began the walk back to the centre,leaving her none the wiser as to his thoughts. Then again, he needn't, because all would be revealed in due time, she guessed.

Still, she had no idea how he wasn't falling over himself as the tiebreaker commenced, this time he led with Protego, more to catch her off guard with the loud crack she assumed, but it was to little avail, as she ran forward to attempt to barge him slightly, but he anticipated the move, ducked low and ran past her. She was left wondering how he'd done it, but as he fled to safety, she realised. His footstep clattered loudly against the hollow hard wooden floor,and if it was that loud and echoey for her, he must be able to tell every intricacy of the floor plan just from the echoes. It was impressive, but only sufficient to be on par with the gift of sight. She sent a bolt flying after him, as he spun around to counter with another useless protego.

And the bolt hit it, bouncing away as the shield held.

She almost had to do a double take, much as the audience, as the spell effectively ricocheted away from Lucas, and into the bleachers. The only person unsurprised was Lucas himself, as after a moment of self congratulation he got to cover and began firing back, the cheeky bastard.

She was wholly confused as to what happened, as she fired some exploratory shots down range, all blocked with ease. The shot would always ricochet 30 to 40 degrees left or right of her angle on Lucas without fail, and it took her altogether too long to catch on to what he was doing.

It was a muggle technique for increasing armor without buying more metal, she recalled from muggle history. Tanks would angle their armour away from the incoming fire, so when it hit the shot would have more effective armor to penetrate.

Leave it to him to apply the technique in charms. Still, there was more than one way to skin a cat.

"Incendio!"

The flame spell caught everyone off guard, but she was not fooling around, as the fire flew outward in licks, rapidly encroaching on his cover, heating it up. It was magically sealed to not catch fire, but the heat it conducted was stupendous, and he felt it on the other side, eventually causing him to flee out of his rathole,and into her line of fire.

"Petrificus Totalus"

The shot rang out into his waist, but it didn't really matter, as his limbs froze in place, and without the movement of arms or legs to save him, went down like a rock, rigid as if stuffed with glue.

That was going to hurt.

Even the teacher looked at her dubiously before calling the match.

"Winner, Laila Faust."

Laila sighed over Lucas' stiff body, which to her concern was now leaking blood from the forehead.

"Back to A&E for you." she sighed.

[] [] [] - Anna

"And on the 13th of May, 1138.."

Anna Król wasn't paying attention to the dull history of magic like the two Ravenclaws at the front, or to Lucas' head injury like the five or so at the back, or even her boyfriend passing notes over to her about the dance while being barraged by fangirls. She was paying very close attention to the third member of their troupe, Laila. While she had reservations about her match with Maria, Laila had in her opinion overstepped the mark with the last bout. She had used fire to drown him out and get him out in the open, then caused him unnecessary injury. He'd gotten a major concussion from the fall and lost a significant amount of blood, both largely repaired but that was besides the point. While Lucas had laughed it off with a bit of dark humour, she had still not separated the incident from her willingness to use spells like that in a spar. While they did see eye to eye on many things, like how to solve problems, her willingness to pull out all the stops was too much. She'd mentioned her concern a few months ago, only to receive a sly chortle and the reply "Why rule everything out, if one day they become necessary again?"

She sighed, recalling that conversation. It was obvious she wasn't trying to sound demeaning, and it was possible there was a problem with Anna herself, but this recent incident rustled her nerves to no end. She leaned back. She was probably blowing this out of proportion.

As if on cue to release the built up stress, the bell rang, shaking furiously as if possessed.

Largely because it was possessed.

Still, its servitude meant they were out of there sooner rather than later, as they picked up their things and departed. She still couldn't seem to focus on anything as sauntered down the long halls, while the students talked with their dates to the dance, and teachers sighed about having to moderate it. Anna considered asking the nurse, until she heard the sudden slamming of a desk from across the hall.

It was Hagee's office.

She looked across, and listened at the ajar door, as most other students moved on. It was time for dinner, and most didn't want to miss it. However now she could hear clearly what he was saying.

"He's staying in London right? Then I'll see you at the place. They have a house there, it's in one of those posh estates. I'll see you for the last check at.. Erm… hold on.."

She heard him rustle through paper, before saying "Yea, Site B. Floo number 122342113B. I'll see you in an hour. We're gonna get that Faust bastard."

He hung up, and she had to hide as he stormed out of the office and down the hall, as her mind reeled at the implications. He was hardly ambiguous. They were going to "get that Faust bastard."

More to the point, he WAS staying in London, and Laila had mentioned a family house in Ilchester place, one of the richest streets in London. 1 - B was the London area, 22 was that particular area, and the rest was unintelligible.

She was unsure what she was going to do, but she had to do something. She ran upstairs towards the schools Floo network, and as she stepped inside, she took a deep breath.

And disappeared.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and saw a dilapidated, abandoned factory, lit by open slats in the roof, split open to allow the evening air in. The atmosphere was moist, and the floor was wet, showing it had rained recently, and the building was not in use. She took in the quiet, broken down environment, before exploring. They were near the train tracks of the London rail system, and after changing clothes and asking locals, she learned she was near Kensington Olympia. Just half a mile from Ilchester.

After grabbing a bite to eat, she returned an hour after hearing Hagee's spiel on the phone, to hear it in real life.

"Gear up!" he roared. "We have one shot to get him, let's get going!"

She observed from a distance, as they prepared their wands and ordered themselves, before one raised his eyes, and as Anna realised what was happening, it was too late.

"HEY!"

She turned to run, but a large hand rested on her shoulder.

"The hell are you doing here?"

The deep, thick voice of the professor was unmistakeable, and caused her to shiver.

"I want to help."

The words came out of her mouth quicker than she could regret them. She turned to a visibly frustrated Hagee, who was wound up further by the first one who said "We gotta go now."

He sighed, looking fit to explode with anger, before saying with resignation "You can stay, but you've gotta learn fast kid."

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	10. Ballet

Chapter 10 - Ballet

[] [] [] - Lucas

"Are you sure?"

"Lucas, I know women like you wouldn't believe."

"You're full of shit Ty."

"Says the virg-"

"Moving on."

Lucas could almost see Tylers grin broaden as he adjusted his tie. He could barely breath the suit was so tight, the blazer was made of insulating foam, and his thin suit felt like a straightjacket. But, according to the man who knew women like he wouldn't believe, he looked reasonably attractive. His mental jury was still out on whether the torture was worth it. Then again, he'd rather just turn up in a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms.

"Is suffocation normal?" he asked sardonically.

"How are you having trouble? You're the skinniest bastard I know." Tyler replied with a chortle, before he briefly paused to assumedly look at himself in the mirror. "Ready to head down?"

"Catch me if I faint." Lucas sniped back, quite cross.

All he got in response was a laugh, and he let the issue lie as he waddled after Tyler down the stairs. They'd been preparing far too long, and he was eager to get this over with. The castle was far busier than usual, and hundreds of voices crowded the halls as they approached the hall, Tyler guiding him by the arm, much to the amusement of some observers.

"He your date?" there came a laugh, which the pair of them chuckled off as they headed towards the main hall, and a familiar soft voice caught Lucas' attention.

"Hey Lucas!" Laila called, causing him to turn in response to face her. He placed a hand on her dress, apparently a familial heirloom from over 400 years ago, and yet not smelly.

Indeed, she smelt lovely, an effect he suspected to be intentional to take the place of makeup for his lack of sight, though he had little doubt she was likely wearing some of that too. Appearances and such. He didn't mind, as his fingers drifted upwards to her cheek, smooth as a rose.

He was actually now faced with the not insignificant hurdle of complimenting someone's appearance while blind. The word look was off limits, even to him who used it in conversation from time to time. Complimenting smell was weird, and he couldn't work out how to phrase a texture based compliment.

How did Tyler do this shit…

After applying the universal "What would Tyler say?" test, he decided on the generic but reliable "You're so beautiful."

This pause coupled with his response straight out of a nineties romcom caused both Tyler and Laila to laugh, somewhat souring his effort. Laila recovered first, saying "I'm aware that sort of thing isn't your strong suit, leave poetry to the hopeless romantic over there."

Before Tyler could object, she continued "Still, I may just hire him. He certainly makes you clean up well. Even the hair!"

The sass surprised them both, as Lucas and Tyler both gave hasty laughter, as Lucas said "Cheers, do I really look that good? It better be worth the torture."

"Whatever it costs, it's worth it." she laughed. "For once I think you may just be presentable enough for my family to not throw crumbs at you to make you go away, excuse the bastards."

He was well aware, more than anyone, of her love-hate relationship with the family. She'd defend and attack them within a breath, criticise its ways and exonerate its members. He waved it off as for once, and said "Not in the mood for a tirade, let's just enjoy the dance, if it does turn out I can move at the waist."

She appreciated his silence on the matter, as she asked "Have you ever danced?"

He shook his head. "A few jigs back before I came, but nothing proper."

"Then follow my lead."

They walked into the centre of the room, beginning to twirl around. It was scary at first, as Lucas felt the various forces of movement tug at his body. His arms were latched onto Laila's and he had no idea what to do with his feet. He span round, and while he had no real idea what was happening, he loved the rush through his gut as they shifted about the floor, and he realised he'd stopped breathing. He caught his breath as they paused movement in time with the music, causing Laila to give a soft, genuine chuckle.

"Having trouble?"

"At least I now know I can breathe." came the instant response, and they were back at it again, spinning to the slow, rhythmic classical music. He had no idea what was going on, but as Laila led him around he began to find a way to find his feet, literally. The movement melted from rigid to fluid, while he floated about the floor. He was enjoying himself so much, he missed Tylers question from the sidelines.

"Where's Anna?"

[] [] [] - Anna

It was a slow walk along shadowed pathways, that allowed them plenty of time for Hagee to explain to her as they took up the rear.

He was a manchurian candidate.

This took her by surprise. He knew Thomas Faust wasn't a great person, but to imagine he would be intending to use the power he gained through votes to harm the wizarding world.

He had been courting the hierarchy for years for this goal, and he had associated with dark magic for almost a decade, and he was not an independent actor. The news was shocking, to see that the greatest threat to the world today had sat less than 7 feet away from her and her friends.

"So what's his plan?" she inquired, as she took this new information in.

"Once in, he can appoint anyone he wants to the positions of power in his cabinet, including treasury. The worlds magical banks all have investments in the magical currency because it's seen as stable, and once in, he can and will hold the Galleon hostage. Economic terrorism. Supervillians take the world by force, actual villains use money. We've intercepted encoded owls, and are putting him down tonight."

She took this in, nodding. She was determined now, and was ready and willing to help take him out.

"Don't get any ideas." he warned. "You stay at the back."

She was fine with this, as she just wanted to see the Faust bastard burn. It briefly occurred to her what the others may think.  
Laila would stand by her family, as much as she disliked them she would attempt to defend them. If pushed, she would attempt to levy, blackmail, and do anything short of actually doing shit. Tyler and Lucas would probably just sit down and talk, with varying degrees of shouting thrown in for good measure. But if they saw what was happening, she wondered what they would be willing to do when push came to shove. Certainly, she was at ease. Despite caring about doing what was right by the book then Tyler, he was far more skittish when it came to action.

But none of that mattered now, as they approached the house. Slowly apparating in pairs closer and closer, checking each leg of the slow journey. It was time for the first set to enter the house.

A silent whisper floated through the air as the first two, identical twins, disappeared.

A moments silence took hours.

"All clear."

They released a collective breath, before the second of four pairs apparated into the building.

"Grand."

Third pair.

"All fine."

Then her and Hagee.

She had apparated a few times before, but the experience was still shocking, as she warped through space and time to a remarkably contemporary living room, that didn't match the twee exterior. It seemed a little tasteless.

"You alright?" Hagee asked.

She nodded "Better than this guys interior designer."

He laughed at that "Touché. Stick behind me, and watch my back."

She nodded, and they moved slowly through the three storey building. The middle living room was clear, and they checked the dining and bathrooms which were only accessible from that room, and they continued to move through the house, slowly and carefully. They came up to a door leading to the stairs, and the first team carefully and cautiously opened the door, before a shriek arose from the room.

"BURGLAR!"

Hagee swore, before decisively running through and slamming open the door, barging over what turned out to be an old maid, before turning on the second pair "Guard the fireplace!", before storming up the stairs, telling the second and third pair to head down, leaving himself and Anna to tackle the top floor. She followed him up, as he pushed through the door, only to have a blinding light slam against the teacher in front of her, stunning her and sending him flying back against her, almost crushing her under his considerable weight. She was blinded and disoriented. She lost bearings of the world around her, as everything went white.

When she woke up, ears ringing, she saw what amounted to a curb-stomp duel. Thomas towered above his attacker despite being of similar height and inferior build.

"INCENDIO!" the politician roared, sending a blaze down towards the teacher, who only just managed to deflect it away and into the carpet. Thomas moved forward and slammed down into Hagee with a force curse, pushing him against the wall, as he approached up to him, and promptly slamming him against the ground. She heard his jaw crack as it hit the deck, and completely smash as he hammered his steel tipped boot off it. Not content and obviously missing the girl in the door frame, he propped up the bulky man, who was now wracked with pain, and flopped him against the chair he had been sitting in.

"Who the hell said you could come up here? I'm in the middle of some very important work. The least you could have done was make an appointment before trying to shaft me?"

The annoyed and yet simultaneously nonchalant question seemed to focus Hagee's strained attention to the Faust, and the Faust's attention away from the noise downstairs. Anna backed away just as she heard a spit, followed by a sigh.

"That was my good suit too. Things aren't looking up for you I'm afraid."

She headed back down the stairs to get help, her world narrowing and beginning to shake, she heard several cries around her as she lost focus.

"CRUCIO!"

"Aurors!"

"Surrend-"

"AHHH!"

"What are you doing here? Get ou-"

"You are under arrest."

[] [] [] - Tyler

"Y Gweinidog dros Magic Friedrich Weber a enwebai tebygol Thomas Faust yn siarad ar y ffôn ar nos Fercher, llefarydd ar ran Weber meddai."

Tyler sighed as he pored through the headlines, as Lucas listened to them over an enchantment designed to read it aloud to him. They'd been doing this for months, and had become very efficient at it, able to fill an entire night's worth of stories in half an hour. Tonight however, he wasn't as focused. Where had Anna been? He'd been left alone as Laila and Lucas danced deep into the evening, he was worried about her. She never broke a promise.

"Roedd y ddau Almaenwyr wedi cwrdd o'r blaen, ac.."

Tyler shook his head. Unfortunately Lucas, in his infinite wisdom, chose to listen to the news in Welsh. He could only glare redundantly at his friend across the table, as the blind teen said "That's interesting…"

Tyler, with no lack of sarcasm, shot "Oh is it? I agree, I can totally hear where the writers coming from. Absolutely, I couldn't understand more you Welsh moron!"

Lucas frowned with confusion, before catching on to what he was on about and grinned evilly.

"Beth yw'r broblem ffrind? Having trouble reading between the lines? Not getting the nuance? Please, I thought you were a news guy. You disappoint me."

If looks could kill, Lucas would have been murdered twenty times over, smug grin and all.

"Yeah? I've seen you naked before your girlfriend has. Shut up."

This he did. Tyler chuckled as he recalled the unfortunate instance of poor timing the previous evening when he was helping Lucas get changed.

"You know, you should probably talk to someone about that thing you have-"

"POINT MADE TYLER."

He promptly uttered a few words to change the narration to a language that was spoken by more than three people. Lucas scowled, causing Tyler to break into a proper laugh as they resumed taking notes.

"What do you think happened to Anna?"

The question surprised Lucas, whose "eyes" were drawn up by the question, before he shrugged.

Tyler could swear a vein in his forehead popped as he asked "What do you mean shrug?"

He shrugged again, nonchalantly replying "You know how these things go. If she missed the gig then she's probably doing something important."

"You're relaxed."

"After a night like that I have every right to be."

"What if it was Laila?"

He paused, and shook his head "It'd be the same. Just relax."

"Are you high?"

"On LIFE my friend."

"Excuse me, but at least me and Anna have something to be excited over."

"Aannnd Tylers back."

Tyler practically choked, before laughing heartily. He had a point, he was getting all worked up over nothing. He sighed as they resumed their work for the show, efficiently as ever with only the occasional snipe across the table. After 20 minutes of work and just in time to miss History, they wrapped up and went down to grab an early lunch. The ball the previous night had left a slightly hung over atmosphere, much like he suspected Lucas was, though he'd never admit it. Tyler had steered well clear of Lucas's illicit booze after proceedings had turned from romantic to rowdy in the small hours. They joked all the way down to the empty hall, and tucked into the steak pie at the end of the Hufflepuff table, with Tyler attempting to force feed Lucas.

"What are you actually doing Ty?"

"Maintenance. Most days I'm worried the breeze will pick you up and send you down wind. EAT."

"I'm full…"

"Lucas, you are 5 foot 6 and you weigh 110 pounds. Ethiopian children probably offer you food. I've seen a roast turkey with more meat than you. EAT."

Tyler chuckled as he downed another few bites before calling it. He had four inches and a much heavier set over the Ravenclaw, but he only ever abused that to get him to eat. He was only ever mean with a reason, and they both knew it. As they laughed, Tyler was cut off as he noticing the withering glare of Principal McGonagall from the entrance to the hall. He immediately paused and addressed her like he knew to.

"Headmistress."

Immediately, Lucas snapped to attention as she relented the harsh glare for a somber one. She eventually sighed and said "Earlier tonight there was an attack on one of the Fausts family homes in central London spearheaded by what appears to be terrorists. He was unharmed, and Aurors arrived within minutes. I would NOT be telling this to examples of sensationalist tabloid journalism such as yourselves…" she paused to glare, sending Lucas into a smirk before she resumed "... but one detail I believe you ought to know."

"Anna was among the convicted. She's being held here preceding the trial later this month."

Tyler froze. This made no sense. She had a strong sense of justice, sure, but she would always do things by the book. His world seemed to collapse neatly in on itself on a single word.

"No.."

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	11. Breaking News

Chapter 11 - Breaking News

[] [] [] - Anna

Anna shivered as she sat in the corner of the cold brick cell. She didn't remember anything between blacking out and arriving, but once she got here she remembered every excruciating detail. Sitting up, head pounding to the slow tap of dripping water down the narrow, square wall carved into room barely measured the span of her arms either way, while the gated narrow door served as her only source of light. She looked out and up at the cloudless night sky, and sighed. It could have been minutes or hours, but even in the one night her imprisonment seemed to drag on. She lay down and stared between the moist ceiling and outside evening.

She at some point began to start thinking about why she was here. She didn't know what had happened to Hagee, but she sure didn't envy his jaw right now. Especially given the fact the, by the sounds of things, Thomas had tried to get him to talk which given his state wouldn't have been easy, and then he would be hurt more. She was worried for his health, but was also cross. He'd dragged her into this, and while she didn't regret it, it wasn't her fault, she thought, as she recalled what happened. Hagee had turned her attempt to learn what was happening into an attack.

But she'd agreed…

"Oh dearie me, what have you done."

Her head jerked up to hear the voice, the first sound in hours. It was croaky, quiet, and deeply accented.

"Lucas?"

"More like your Lord and Saviour if you answer properly." he chuckled, beyond her view. It was somewhat surreal, just hearing the voice. It seemed too deep for his slender frame, now that she thought about it. The irony of hearing but not seeing also crossed her mind during his drawn out reply. "So why did you do it?"

It occurred to her he had skipped the question on whether she had done it or not. In his mind he'd already made that decision. She sighed, before trying to explain "It's not my fault, I-"

He interrupted, sounding a little angry. "Bullshit. You hardly apparated into the man's house alongside Hagee for some tea and crumpets."

"How do you know…" she said, moving towards the gated door, before catching on. "They put you up to this."

"We're just having an informal chat." he snarled. "I don't have to mention anything, by technicality I'm not here. I'm a visitor, and I'll be damned if I don't know why one of the nicest people I know did this."

She began to cry. Having his harsh tones so infamous for cutting into those who displeased him turned on her stung, and she lay back and whimpered "I didn't know what I was doing.. Faust.. He's going to-"

"Well you weren't possessed, and other members haven't spoken, so you better produce something or them. I'm just saying." he laughed, showing a surprising cruel streak. "So what's the deal?"

She whimpered, as she explained "Faust… he's trying to take over.."

He barked a laugh, and finally revealed himself. "Oh is he? That's a hefty claim, even by my standards."

She shook her head. "It's serious, there've been letters and all intercepted. It's all in his room, a little compartment in his desk!"

This gave him some pause, before he turned and murmured to someone, before she heard footsteps scuttle away, as he said "Let's wait and see."

"Who was that?" she asked, to which he responded "A mutual friend. Now explain clearly what happened."

She wiped her eyes, as she began "I suspected him for ages, Hagee, as you know, but last afternoon, after class, I heard him on the phone and I decided to follow him."

"Into central London?"

"It was over a floo tunnel."

This seemed to satisfy that question, but then he asked "What exactly made you follow him?"

She paused, as she thought. "He said to someone he was going to get that bastard, and they mentioned Faust. I don't know what I wanted to do, I just followed. They found me and let me stick around."

He nodded. "Sounds to me like you just wanted him to be guilty of something."

She didn't respond, she couldn't. He was right, and his tone balanced demeaning with calculating meant she could barely turn to face him. She moved suddenly and asked "Where's Tyler?"

He shook his head and responded. "Didn't take the news well, he's in a state."

She nodded, because it made sense. They didn't speak for a time, as the pair of them brooded in silence waiting for Lucas' assistant to come back. The silence became so thick and tangible she felt she could reach out and touch it. She felt incredibly awkward, but Lucas just stood stoically, not acknowledging her. She didn't know what to do, but she was saved by a flurry of footsteps coming up the stairs.

"What did you find?"

"A bunch of envelopes, in a secret compartment like she said."

"Alrig- wait, letters? Dammit… alright, gimme a minute, this is a pain every friggin time. Keep an eye on her"

Lucas grabbed the letters and left, presumably to charm the letters to enter his mind. She was left alone with the-

"MILLY?"

The girl that Tyler had met all those years ago had really hit it off with Anna after a few days. The shy Hufflepuff had grown to like the brash Gryffindor, and Anna finally twigged onto what Lucas was doing. He knew Milly would do anything for her, and she would respond much better than to him, despite Anna knowing him more and being closer. He was clever, she granted. Milly nodded, and responded. "Yep. I wanted to help. What did you do?"

She choked up again. "I… I don't know.. I helped them."

"I see… well you're here now. You can just… explain that!"

Anna shook her head and chuckled quietly about Millie's naivety, responding "I don't know about all that."

The younger girl nodded, as footsteps slowly meandered back towards the cell door. It was Lucas.

"What is it Lucas?"

There was no response. Anna saw a dark, sweaty look on his face, as he finally said "Back away from the door.

Bombarda."

[] [] [] - Lucas

This was big.

He could barely wrap his head round the scale of the thing as the three of them skulked down the halls of the school, led by Mizzy, who held Anna in tight arm, while Lucas followed the footsteps.

This was insane.

They were heading down to the recording room, though he hadn't told them why. He had to do something, but he was not rash like his other friends. No violence, no aggression, just let everyone know. He was furious at Anna, but he needed her to lay this out as they ran.

"So this has been corroborated?"

"Yes"

Fucking hell this was huge.

Anna nodded, as she continued. "And as well, he's being backed up by the outgoing ministers don't forget. This is bigger than you think."

She was right. He'd had the backup from the start, and they were in the loop, at least as far as he could assume. They ran down the stairs, positively flying down the moving steps. Most people had retired by this hour, and the show should be started in ten minutes, but Tyler was in the hospital and he had no notes. Fortunately, he now had plenty of notes. He also needed Anna for later, as he engaged stage two of his hastily put together plan.

They rounded into the booth with four minutes to spare. He laid out a few notes in Braille, before grabbing a drink and yelling instructions.

"Milly, keep an eye open. Block the doors leading from the central stairwell to this hall, and watch for people. No one gets into this hall. Anna, get into the next room, and set up the equipment, I can't do shit."

He heard a pair of footsteps scurry off, as he leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his scarred eyes beneath the bandage before sipping at his drink, which proved to be Firewhisky.

"For courage." he chuckled.

As he waited, he heard a small bell ring. T minus one minute. Everything was set up to go, as he heard Anna call over his side mic that she was all set to launch.

This was it.

"Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Live."

[] [] [] - Laila

Laila left dinner, utterly puzzled. She had been looking for her friends all night, and while she was fine with eating in house, it piqued her curiosity to no end. She left as soon as she had eaten, searching for where the hell everyone was. She hadn't heard from anyone what had happened, but this was odd. She stood in the outflux of people.

Where the hell was everyone?

"Are you okay?"

She turned, and saw Roland followed up by Maria, who looked almost concerned. It had dubious levels of genuinity, but she appreciated it. They had become much better social butterflies over time, and had even gotten over her other friends so long as Laila kept business brisk. She paused, before she twigged.

"First one to find one of those three gets five hundred galleons."

She spoke their language fluently, and they instantly turned to find lackeys to begin the search effort. It amused her to see how efficient they became. In fact, she had only just sourced the money as a cry went up.

"Anna's up in the towers cell, Tylers in hospital!"

The crowd around the boy who shouted immediately tried to claim the student, as Maria chuckled.

"Too bad Roland, this one's mine."

He grumped as Laila passed over the enchanted bag, before Laila ran upwards. The hospital was a ways away, so she ran upwards towards the tower. She was in surprising shape, and made it up very swiftly, to find the wrecked door.

"The hell…"

She examined the scene. The door had been blown inwards by an explosion, and dust had already gathered.

"What's going on here!"

The shout came from behind her, as several Aurors rushed the scene. She meekly put her hands up as they approached, but they moved past her. The nearest one waved her off, explaining "We got a warning when it was opened, it's not likely you. The wand was a phoenix, carved ebony. May I see yours?"

She passed over the soulbound oak wand over as she came to a realisation, though she said nothing.

Carved ebony.

What the hell had Lucas done? That was his, and unique to boot. They'd talked about it before at times, apparently ebony wands were rare ish, and denoted a unique, genuine individual. He had been far more interested in her wand and its implications.

"Thank you, now please leave."

She looked up, shocked out of her thoughts. What was going on? She wandered down, trying to make sense of things, as her phone beeped in her pocket. She pulled it out as another shoe dropped.

"HMR is going live!"

[] [] [] - Lucas

"... so you must NOT vote for him, and if you posses the ability, alert any and all people you trust to spread this information. HMR."

He caught his sweaty breath as he ripped off his headphones and begun to prepare. He flipped on his own radio and flipped through the lot to find out where Faust was. The working plan was to run interference for the others to catch up. He was likely hiding somewhere after this, and it was unlikely he would be easily found. Fortunately, he could easily count on Thomas' intellectual curiosity to draw him out. Potential dictator or otherwise, he could tell he loved a good chat. After fiddling with the knob, he eventually settled on BBCM at just the right moment.

"...aust sought protective custody within the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries..."

"ANNA! MILLAY!"

The girls ran in to the sound of the teen croaking out commands.

"Milly, stay here. Keep your phone on, and when Laila comes down here in approximately… six minutes, stay with her. Anna, take me to the Ministry of Magic. I have an appointment."

"How do you know Lai-"

"Because I do. Now, please escort me to the nearest floo chamber, unless you want to be her when they put two and two together in nine minutes and the authorities bust in. That's why Laila must be redirected out before they arrive. We must not delay further, c'mon. Oh, and grab my phone before we go."

[] [] [] - Tyler

Tyler sat by himself, having long woken up from his small episode. He had emptied his eyes already, and his requests to see Anna had been turned down due to his emotional state. He wondered how she was doing, and thought about what she'd done. He didn't disapprove essentially, after all he'd been telling her to break rules since Jesus came out of Nazareth. But still, he had meant in a micro sense, not to bloody go out and join a radical revolutionary group.

That was his job.

As he took a moment between wiping the dry salt from his eyes to laugh quietly at his own joke, before a loud commotion arose from the far corner of the room, as the door swung open.

"What are you bringing me here for?"

"Pardon me, we have to wait here for further instructions."

He turned behind him on his bed to see the bizarre sight of Laila being ordered about.

This day just kept getting stranger and stranger, he thought, as Laila sighted Tyler and stormed over, carrying the fury of the world behind her, causing Tyler to shiver in his boots as she approached.

"Care to explain what the hell is going on?"

Tyler swore the ward froze over in the time he took to respond, but eventually said "I.. don't know, I've been here since dinner. Ann-"

"As a matter of act that's EXACTLY what I wanted to discuss. What the hell happened with her?"

Tyler paused, and looked down guiltily despite in no way being at fault. He was a little surprised by her aggression, but answered "She took off with Hagee to kill your uncle, they were caught, and she's in the tower."

"Funny, because princess busted out of her castle."

He recoiled, before asking, astonished "What the hell?"

"Anna's cell was broken open, then Lucas opened the show with something about uncle planning to take over, then the both of them vanished off the face of the earth."

What was Lucas up to now, he thought.

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	12. Covergence

Chapter 12 - Convergence

[] [] [] - Anna

After Lucas had left Milly behind, he followed her up to the room, neither of them speaking. He was probably working out his quote-unquote plan, the schemer. She was obviously grateful for the release, but she had no idea what he was up to, and had not idea what was making him tick. She was having trouble trusting him, as he continued to shut her out. Her thoughts on the other hand wandered from that, to Faust, to the other Faust she had spent years with. Why had he sent her up to the hospital?

Wasn't that where Lucas said Tyler was?

She stopped, causing Lucas to bang into her back. She hadn't even thought about Tyler once during her incarceration, and she felt horrible. A pit opened up in her stomach, as she felt horrible about her selfishness. She-

"Ahem."

She turned to face a disgruntled Lucas, who was obviously unimpressed with the hold up. Insensitive as ever, he bluntly said "What's the issue?"

She declined to answer at first, a little cross still, but eventually said "What about Tyler?"

Lucas paused, before nodding. "Wonder why you didn't ask before. He's in the hospital, he was worried about you. He'll be fine."

She was grateful for his forthcoming response. Generally, if he said something, he meant it. It was when he said nothing she got worried. She continued to lead him up to the fireplace room, and did a quick search up for the Ministry on the enchanted map kept there, after unfurling it open and laying it out on the table.

"What's the Department of Mysteries?" came the question from over her shoulder, but she was forced to reply "It's blocked. Probably for protection. The main hall of the Department is a short walk, and still open. 11X000000B. Fancy a walk?"

He visually grimaced, as she thought over what he may be thinking. His face looked not quite angry, but more inconvenienced. The source of this frustration was not clear, but he didn't give her much time to guess as he moved towards the fireplace.

"You first." he said grimly, handing over the dust as she stepped inside.

"Here goes nothing." she said, before dropping it, flying through space and time. She emerged in the tall, long room, lined by stone pillars and dark walls that was the Atrium of the Ministry. She stepped into the wide room, and after a few moments, the blind teen stumbled through the fireplace.

"Damn primitive transport." he coughed, before raising his arms and waving them about. "Where are you?"

She smiled at his awkward, confused movement, wishing she had a camera to save this precious moment of embarrassment for the normally above-it-all Ravenclaw.

Still, she couldn't, and opted to extract the memory for preservation at a later date. Instead, she tapped her foot on the polished floor and said "Over here you clown."

He grumpily reared his head and said "Whatever you say. Let's get going. Department of Mysteries is through the elevator."

She led him down the Atrium, past the fountain. She briefly paused again, as Lucas kept walking. She briefly sighed mentally as she considered the fact he would never be able to appreciate art. Or his girlfriend. It was almost funny if it weren't so sad. She tried to imagine not being able to appreciate Tyler's gorgeous face and body, and she felt instantly depressed.

"Lucas?"

"Yea?"

She paused, thinking.

"What do you think Laila looks like?"

He stopped, again looking cross at the interruption but also introspective. "I guess I can describe her height, weight, build, et cetera. But as to the specifics, I don't know. That's not why I love her."

She stopped in her tracks, and turned to him. Being the avid shipper she was, practically squealed with excitement. She patted him on the back, and they kept walking towards the gated elevator. Anna went to press the button, but the door opened in front of them.

Anna recoiled as two men stepped out in front of them, looking down. It was Ricard and his friend. They stood in silence for several awkward moments.

"Fancy seeing you again."

The ice was broken by Anna, who instantly caused Lucas to grin, and the other pair to rear up and scowl, before Lucas told them "I believe I have an appointment."

They stopped right in their tracks, as they scowled at the two teens in front of them. Ricards colleague turned away and pulled out a little hand mirror with a portrait of Thomas on it, which she quickly realised served as instant communication. After a few hushed whispers beyond her ears, though she suspected by Lucas' continued grin that he could hear fine. Ricards friend turned back after a short conversation with his employer.

"Beck, let's go."

"JACOBSON Beck"

Anna paused, as she worked this out.

"Wait, what about me?"

Lucas and Ricard turned to her, and as Lucas' grin continued to drill into her, she got the sinking feeling of being screwed over.

"No…"

"Yes. I'm afraid I can take it from here. I'd recommend you leave before the authorities arrive. Farewell."

Anna visibly shook with anger as her blood boiled. The son of a bitch just used her to get here with no plan to help her, and discarded her at the first opportunity! Her angry energy built up to a climax as she swung at his smug grin, hitting his snout square on and sending him flying back into Ricard, as his nose exploded in blood for the second time that week. The other man restrained her before she could get another hit off.

After panting for several seconds to catch himself, Lucas stood, wiped his nose and straightened his shirt.

"Excuse me." he said in a passive aggressive manner, before turning away and entering the elevator, followed by Ricard and then the other man after he released Anna from his arms, as the doors closed on her.

She could barely contain her fury as the doors shut in front of her after Ricard pushed the third button from the bottom left, and they floated away into the darkness. She simply stood there for some time on the edge of the Atrium, thinking for some time.

"What do I do now…"

"Hold it right there!"

She turned to face the shout, as several grown adults ran up to her.

"Anna Król?"

She paused as she realised what they wanted. She hurried before being arrested twice in one day.

"WAIT NO HOLD ON A SEC!"

They paused, surprised by the outburst.

"I know where Faust is. Do you want to arrest him or no?"

She prayed this would satisfy them.

The silence continued.

A little longer.

"Alright, fine. Lead on."

[] [] [] - Lucas

The ride down the horizontal elevator was rough and bumpy, and the total darkness providing no reference frame combined with high speed meant he'd begun to feel a little ill, not helped by his nose that was leaking blood like it was going out of fashion. Ricard offered a tissue, which he accepted graciously, wiping himself.

"Any better?" he asked, to which Ricard responded "All fine."

He was still trying to figure the man out. He seemed polite despite the masters he served, but he wasn't the mindless robot he associated with personal assistants. It was very odd.

But he wasn't allowed to think too deeply about it, as their ride slammed to a halt without warning, chucking the teen from one end of the lift to the other, before the steel gated door opened to the narrow hallways of the Department of Mysteries. Or at least, so he'd been told, he had no idea until the two men stepped out ahead of him, sending their footsteps out to bounce off the edges of walls and back to his ears, which proved a muddled and confused message.

In other words, a mystery. Probably intentional.

Hold on." came a new female voice, which paused before saying "Well that's fine then, I'll just need his wand." Now addressing him, she said "Wand."

He handed it over with no worry. He had a spare, and more to the point he wasn't going to need it, and they moment between offering it and it being taken indicated she was surprised by his willingness. His reputation as a planner had likely preceded him, and it was satisfying to get that surprised reaction. He had all the equipment he needed.

"Through here" came the directions, as they were led through a door into what seemed by the lack of echoes to be a small room, perhaps an office, and there was a voice he knew all too well.

"Hello again Lucas, I was just leaving, but I have some time."

Lucas swallowed a breath and whispered "Hello Mr Faust, good to see you."

He stood, as evidenced by his seat grating away from him across the floor as he said "We really should go to a private location, we have much to discuss."

Perfect, he thought, as Lucas followed Faust, Ricard,and the other two through the loo, after the candidate had whispered in 178369032B.

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the digits get recited, as Faust, Ricard, and the woman exited in sequence, leaving him with the last man. He nodded to him as he asked "Mind if I take a piss?"

They had his wand, so the man said "Sure, just over here." he said, knocking his fist against a side door at the back of the room to show him where it was. He stepped inside.

Then pulled out his phone.

He silently chuckled. They wouldn't've expected a muggle device, and even if they had they wouldn't think he knew how to use one. He placed in earphones and keyed in 178369032B after getting Millie's number up on his first speed dial, and asked it to say it back to him to confirm it. He had spent a long time memorising the button pattern and interface with Tyler. He'd messed up typing it, and had to type it in twice more to get it right, by which time, the man was knocking on the door.

"Nearly done?"

"One sec" he replied, as he pressed send.

[] [] [] - Laila

Laila sat on the edge of the bed, arms folded upwards to rest her chin on her closed hands. Tyler had finally shut up, allowing her to think properly. There was no way he'd rush in without some plan, that was Anna and Tylers job. But he'd brought Anna with him. Anna and Lucas, taking on her uncle? That didn't make sense. Anna was the kind of person to take charge, but Lucas hated being sidelined. Lucas and Anna, taking on her uncle. That made more sense. In that case, he could have just needed a visual guide.

But there was something more than that, otherwise he would've just gotten Laila herself. Something changed when he went to see Anna, and judging by the radio broadcast, it was information, the same information that had sent Anna off with Hagee. She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. It made sense, but why had he gone ahead? He was the sort of person to hang back

"Buzz… buzz…"

Her head snapped up to the sound of the phone buzzing, as Milly pulled out her phone and frowned.

"178369032B… what the hell does that mean, is it a code?"

Laila shot up like a bullet as she saw Tylers eyes open, showing he'd gotten it too.

"It's a floo number."

Tyler nodded as he said "The map's down in the fireplace room."

The three of them headed down the short walk to the dedicated room, where the map was open and unfurled. It had obviously been used recently.

"Lucas and Anna." Laila answered the unasked question, as she pinpointed the location Milly had been sent.

"There!" Tyler pointed, drawing the two girls attention away from the London section of the map to Munich city.

"Frauenkirche…"

The Frauenkirche was a Bavarian cathedral in the middle of Munich, well known to muggles. Thanks to city limits, it's two towers meant to represent a man and woman, towered above the rest of Munich.

"Not exactly subtle."

"So let's get going."

She looked up at Tyler as it finally made sense. He had never intended to do anything himself, when she thought about it there was no way he could.

But he'd found him. That was his plan.

"Aha…"

Tyler nodded, arriving at the same conclusion a few moments before. "So let's go get them!"

Laila frowned. "Hold on, we need a proper plan. We need to organise, and-"

"NO" Tyler said angrily, interrupting her. "We need to go while we know where they are."

"We need to organise, get reinforcements. Don't be hasty."

"No, we need to go now while we know!"

"Funny, while we're talking about both we know, he's in a highly secured building with several underground hole ups. He's not running from there, all he has to do is sit tight until England votes."

"But what about Lucas and Anna? His broadcast will be making Thomas cack himself, and now they're stuck together in a cathedral in Munich. We've gotta go get him. Don't you care about him?"

Her gaze hardened to tungsten, as she glared into his soul with a look like a sword to the chest. She remained a calm demeanour as she whispered "Go on if you want to, if you think you're helping. You're not, but that's not my job."

Tyler recoiled and his eyes slowly grew open as she shot him daggers, slowly nodding and heading over to the floo gate.

"Milly." he hissed. "You coming?"

Milly knew Tyler better than Laila, and nodded shakily before following. She looked almost scared as they stood next to each other.

"Don't die." she warned, as Tyler simply nodded in response, before disappearing into green fire as Laila sighed. Off he went, she thought, as she sat and considered her options, before coming to a decision and grabbing a sheet of paper.

Several minutes of dubious origami later, she had two enchanted paper birds heading down to get help, as she picked up the old dial up phone and began to make some calls.

"Frank? Hey Frank, it's Laila."

Frank was the Munich representative to the German Minister for Magic, and man who was a friend of the family.

"Hello there Laila, fancy talking to you given the night that's in it."

She smiled, as she asked "I'm calling in that favour."

"Which one?"

"Whichever you want. I need you to close down Old Munich. No one enters or leaves by land or sky."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Frank likely expected her to ask to apprehend him, but not only would he not do it, but it wouldn't help her. She had made up her mind that while Thomas was family, he'd crossed the line and his fall could be her gain if it was well handled. Letting Frank do it wouldn't allow her to take potential credit among the hierarchy.

"Alright, consider it done, but you endorse me for reelection in two years."

"Done." she said, putting the phone down as the door knocked behind her, causing her to smile as she told the two behind the door to come in.

And in stepped Maria and Roland.

"Evening." she greeted.

"What's this about Laila?" Roland asked, to which she quickly replied "I assume you heard the broadcast?"

They both nodded, allowing her to continue "We're going to get him." The other two stood and thought, weighing up pros and cons, as she smiled and said "You can have Switzerland when it's over."

Their faces lit like bulbs as she dangled a valuable asset under their noses. While it was significant, it was small fry compared to the potential return on investment.

Now for part two.

She picked the phone back up and dialled the second number and waited.

"Good evening Ricard."

[] [] [] - Tyler

Tyler looked back as he stepped out of the fireplace, followed shortly by Milly, who looked both surprised and confused.

"Well this is a nice change of scenery." he smirked.

"It's a prison cell."

"Unlike my esteemed colleague, I can see that."

The prison cell was designed to hold prisoners before transit to Azkaban. The global influx and outflux of prisoners was always difficult to manage, and there were holding cells all across the globe for them. On average it took three days for prisoners to filter through to the main prison, and there was much less security there. He didn't like doing this, but he had to do it, and was on a time limit. He moved past the stone and steel bars, incapacitating the only guard with relative ease.

He stepped outside his office, creeping along the wall in case there was another civilian listening. Milly followed closely after, who seemed to have gained confidence as they walked the narrow hall down to the cell block. It was past lights out, and most of them were asleep, allowing Tyler to charm the lock with a bit more subtlety than Lucas, as he pulled off the lock of the first cell and approached the bed with some reluctance. He didn't want to work with the people Laila would likely bring along could only be counted on as much as she paid them. Not only would it be too slow, but they were untrustworthy.

Mercenaries.

No good. He had to bring along someone he trusted, even if he didn't like them. That was how he did things.

"Good evening Hagee."

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	13. Check

Chapter 13 - Check

[] [] [] - Laila

"Hello Ricard."

The other end of the line was silent for some time following the initial sharp intake of breath indicating the albinos shock, as she listened closely, her two rival heirs standing behind her salivating over Switzerland. She heard footsteps on the other end of the line, and tried to picture the scene. There were multiple steps happening at once, but despite this there was a lot of echo, saying it may be an open hall or area. She was playing a guessing game with audio cues.

Was this how Lucas saw the world all the time? This was hard, she reflected, as he finally replied.

"Good evening ma'am, apologies, one moment."

She heard him make some murmurs across the room, before he heard his footsteps resume walking, but only one set. He was likely alone, which gave her some confidence in his trustworthiness.

"We can speak privately. What is your concern, and how did you get this number?"

She smirked. "The second one was easy, it's publically listed if you know where to look. The first is much more… interesting."

She let that last statement hang, in accordance with the families oratory lessons. These lessons had given her a leg up over a lot of her friends in a lot of areas, including communication, though Tyler had some sort of inhuman ability that she couldn't wrap her head round in this area. She almost wished he hadn't ran off as she finished. "I just wanted to ask how the Frauenkirche is these days? It's been awhile since I've seen it, I may just pay a visit soon."

Again, there was a silence as Ricard thought about what he'd just heard. She had been in no way subtle, but she enjoyed beating around the bush nonetheless, adding to the likely feeling of doom Lutece would have.

"I see. Well fortunately I'm in the area, and can confirm it's lovely this time of year, but there's an unscheduled procession at the moment."

"How fortunate. How's the happy couple?"

"My employer and an old friend. Blind, smart. They suit each other."

Keeping with the metaphor, she replied "Anyone on the other man's side of the aisle?"

"No one." came the surprising reply, which finally got her to tense up in nervous anticipation. What had happened to Anna? The answer came moments later, as he elaborated "She left the procession at the ministry. She seemed quite angry if I recall correctly."

That made more sense. Lucas didn't need her, and thus left her. Whether that was to make sure she wasn't caught in the soon to come crossfire, or to simply rid himself of dead weight remained to be seen. Still, that was one thing she didn't have to worry about.

"One last thing Ricard. I'm heading off, so make sure the doors are unlocked when I get there. Lets meet, say, the lower fireplace? You and the Lutece family will be rewarded handsomely for this."

She hung up and turned to face Roland and Maria, who had summoned several lackeys as she had requested. Ricard would do as instructed, she knew. He was ludicrously predictable.

"Alright, let's get started. We have an opening with the lower area in about ten minutes. Everyone check wands and be ready to head off."

[] [] [] - Lucas

Lucas stepped out of the fireplace, followed shortly after by the last guard, phone tucked away turned off. He followed the crowd out of the small room they'd arrived in and up a series of halls and a flight of stairs, as the echoes opened up. By the sounds of things they'd entered the building proper, though he was unsure where he actually was. The large room had a lot of clutter towards the lower end, and opened up at the end. It may have been a lecture hall, or a church. He sighed as he stepped across the polished wooden floor, onto wide, brick steps. Almost definitely a church. Thomas beckoned him upwards with a rhythmic tap of his foot, as he stepped onto an upper area, brick again, but flat and without much clutter but for a bit in the middle he couldn't discern. The aristocrat sighed, and told him "Munich's lovely this time of year. It's a tragedy you can't see it."

He waved the notion off as he approached, responding "With respect, I'm sure I've missed worse sights."

"Does that include or not include my niece?"

He was grateful he wasn't drinking anything, or he would have spat it out in surprise, which amused Thomas to no end. "Relax! I'm only having fun. Please, sit down."

Lucas was initially confused by the request to sit down, before he heard a tapping, guiding him to a seat. He slowly rested his legs, as he heard a phone ring. He froze, and had a brief mental panic as he wondered what happened.

"Good evening ma'am, apologies, one moment."

It was Ricards voice, which then asked "Mind if I take a business call?", to which Thomas said "No problem, please step outside."

Ricard thanked him and left with the phone, as Thomas sat opposite him. There was a table between them if the space between them was to be believed. The air was warm and dry, indicating candles were not just present but prominently scattered throughout the room.

"Do you know where we are?"

The question drew his attention back to the man sitting opposite, as he answered "A church, and you mentioned Munich. Unfortunately, geography is not my strong suit."

This drew a chuckle out of the Faust, as he responded "This church, the Frauenkirche. After the city was founded to tax transits over the river, an old church was built here, replaced in the 1400s and built in 20 years. After the war with Britain ended it had to be rebuilt, and stands to this day towering over Munich. I like it."

Taking in this neat piece of culture, he replied "Interesting. Still, it's a ways away from Britannia.", exaggerating the last words B and N's mockingly.

"An unfortunate necessity." he responded. "You chomped at the bit, no question, and it'll take some doing to erase this. I'm just going to relax here until it blows over, and I will win when it goes to the ballot. A noble effort."

He mentally groaned. He was efficient, Lucas knew, but that was insane. Plan B of getting the word out to stop him winning had failed before it had even started.

"So where does that leave me?" Lucas asked, disguising his dismay.

"Where does it leave you? I mean, you had your reasons for seeking me out."

"I hope you don't expect me to tell you off the bat. I'm also curious why you accepted."

There was a pause, as he responded "Two reasons. First, I thought it was a good idea to keep you where I can see you for the time being. Besides, I felt that a few days alone with the staff could get boring."

"So what's your proposal?"

The answer came in the form of a thud on the table.

[] [] [] -Anna

Anna stood apart from the aurors as the elevator returned to its resting place in the Atrium, and she entered shyly, examining the innards. It was the same elevator, almost certainly. She racked her brains to remember what the man had done, the button.

The third button from the bottom left!

She turned back and said "Everyone in!"

The Aurors begrudgingly entered the small chamber, squeezing in as she pressed the button and they headed off down the shaft. She was unsure where they were headed, but didn't let on for fear she would be imprisoned again. She was bluffing that she knew more than she actually did. Hopefully Lucas left enough unintentional bread crumbs for her to follow. The ride was not smooth, and the crowd jostled around in the stuffy environment, and took several awkward minutes to boot.

After exiting the cart with most of her dignity intact, she examined the area. The squared off angular hallways with nonsensical directions and planning indicated the Department of Mysteries, and after they filtered out she spotted a door round a sharp corner with a nametag.

"-aust."

She smirked as she ran up to the door, pumping her fist as she read the full plate of "Adelheid Faust." A neat front, certainly, and it looked recently used by the footmarks and handle, but as she tugged, it was locked.

"Leave it to me." said the lead auror, placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling her behind him, before whispering into the lock and cracking it open. "Higher security than I expected. We're onto something." he explained as they stepped inside, and a loud gasp drew through them both.

The room was a mess. Paper was scattered about the room, with several cardboard boxes lying about the place. It was totally wrecked, and by the looks of it, given the dust hadn't settled, it looked recent. This was worrisome, but at least they were on the right track. They approached the fireplace, the obvious exit, as the man leading them explained. "There's sometimes a trace of where they went if it's recent enough…"

After a brief pause for analysis, he confirmed it was in Old Munich, but they wouldn't be going straight there.

"There's only one fireplace there, and we'd get bottlenecked in their territory. We'll convene next door."

With that, he nodded, and they began to disappear and apparate. The leader grabbed her arm and they left, reappearing in a brick room.

"You're staying with me." he explained, as she wondered if she would ever get used to the stomach churning sensation of apparating. Not letting up, the man pushed open the door to enter the courtyard to rush the church Thomas was hiding in.

Only to be struck down by a ranged curse as he stepped out into the evening air, his body flinging like a ragdoll beyond her view from the doorframe.

[] [] [] - Lucas

"A game of chess?"

The initial thud of the board impacting the table had been soft but definite, indicating a heavy object but one with its mass spread over a wide area, like a wide square or circle. It was not hard to conclude what it implied, given Thomas's personality. It was odd, he was quite similar, except Faust was generally more polite than the former traveller and homeless asshole. They sat opposite each other as the pieces began to set themselves, Lucas said "I'll go black."

He had played a few matches with Laila, and found his slow, relaxed style far more comfortable with the black side, and it might unnerve Faust to boot. He smiled slightly, and leaned back. He had a decent ratio of wins with Laila, garnering mostly stalemates and few proper losses. The trouble was she was classically trained and he had to piece things together himself in his head. Memorising pieces was another challenge…

"How about a wager?"

His head turned up, as he considered this. It was largely immaterial if he'd gauged his plans right, and it did make things far more interesting. He couldn't resist, and he knew Faust knew it. Lucas' smirk grew to a chuckle as he realised what was happening.

"I think I can guess what your bet is."

Thomas leaned over to him, chuckling in rhythm with him, a little lighter and a little quieter. "Oh do you? Pray tell."

"If you win, you want me to explain my plan, then promise to not speak of this meeting or your plans ever again, of my own will of course."

He leaned back in an innocent manner "You said it, not me. I like the way you think though, so you'll find no complaints here." he finished his laugh as he concluded. "Mind if I try guess yours?"

Lucas' brow furrowed, but he responded "By all means."

"If you win, I'll let you walk out, and I'll not pursue you for anything you may say afterwards."

The amazing thing was, he wasn't lying, Lucas knew. He would actually do it, and when he thought about it, he would likely keep his end of the bet, annoying though it might be. Annoying was the right word, yes. Not world ending. More to the point, it would never come to that. Laila would arrive before this finished if his pace was anything to go by.

"Anything to add?"

Lucas shook his head, before being interrupted by another voice. "Pardon me sir, but I'm just going to check the Floo portals."

"Fine Ricard." Thomas said somewhat angrily, before beginning, narrating his moves for Lucas' benefit.

"Queens Pawn to D4." he began, before pausing and asking "I trust you don't mind Blitz rules?"

Click.

"Fine by me. Kingside Bishops Pawn to F5. I've been doing some thinking."

Click.

"Oh, care to share? Queenside Bishops Pawn to C4."

Click.

"Kingside Knight to F6. I like to think I have you pretty much figured out, but I figured I'd make use of you not going anywhere for thirty minutes."

Click.

"You think you'll have me in this match for that long? Queenside Knight to C3."

Click.

"No, but it won't take that long for me to explain my hypothesis. Now why would a man in a plenty secure state of living, with enough implicit influence to affect any global magical policies you wished, without the downside of all the poor public attention, go for the most challenging public office just to take over the magical world? That doesn't sound like you. Kings pawn to E6." he began, as he completed the Dutch Defence, securing his position and readying himself for attack.

Click.

[] [] [] - Tyler

"Where the hell are all the guards?"

Tyler peeked out into the courtyard outside the front gate, at the intersection between the Lowengrube and the Augustinerstraße, utterly befuddled. They looked from behind the row of houses at the end of the Lowengrube, the street to their backs, and a courtyard in front stretching down to their right, where the church was. Opposite them was the town hall, which was closed. The entire area looked abandoned.

After picking up Hagee and his team, they'd apparated to the Magistrates court north of the church, sprinting down. He kept the convicts on a tight leash all the way down, but now he was too confused to bother. He, unlike his colleagues, had no issue working outside the law, not that he liked it, but he was more concerned with the results, like Laila, though she had limits. Anna had gotten involved, as far as he could tell, out of confusion. But this situation made no sense. He looked across the buildings, and as he surveyed the area, she spotted a door burst open, and a man in official dress leapt out in a rush, causing Hagee in a panic to shout "REDUCTO" over Tylers shoulder, blasting the man back and reducing him to dust, grey particles striking the wall behind him as the door was left hanging open. Immediately, two more men to sprang out of hiding, and from behind the door an Expelliarmus spell shot out, bursting towards them and striking the corner of the building they were taking cover behind, ricocheting off the their left and smashing a window on an apartment opposite the cathedral. The two officials bolted out into the courtyard, taking cover behind a fountain and a bin and laying down fire on their hiding spot.

Tyler gritted his teeth, as he backed up. Thinking briefly, he let Hagee maintain the position there, as he told the two other men to enter the building on their right hand side and he braced himself, before sprinting left across the road. It was a harrowing experience that shaved a few years off his life, catching a few close shaves as his feet flew across the brick, and he smashed into the window of the opposite building, not slowing as he made it to cover. The glass pierced his skin as the window splintered inwards, shards spraying over the floor, as his momentum sent him slamming into the interior wall, his arms and ribs bearing the brunt of the impact.

"Bollocks…" he groaned as he picked himself up and dragged himself to the broken window, and surveyed the scene. The flank to Hagee's left had gone smoother, as they had gotten an angle on the enemies cover, forcing them to hide to Tylers left, and within his line of sight, as he drew his wand and shakily whispered "Stupefy…", sending a stun down range and sending one of the two out in the open onto his ass, though the third was still in the building forward and to his left, hiding.

He gritted his teeth and kept firing.

[] [] [] - Lucas

Thomas paused at Lucas' rhetorical question, thinking about his move, both on the board and in word. By now, judging by the footsteps, most of the guards had decided to just watch the match, and by the sounds of things it must have been pretty absorbing. Lucas simply sat and stared into nothing, awaiting Thomas' response.

"Good publicity." came the flippant response at long last, and Lucas knew he wasn't being serious, as he made his move "Kingside Knight to F3.", chuckling as he did so along with Lucas, as the horse slid up to cover his right flank, matching the one covering the Queen.

Click.

Lucas stopped laughing, as the timer moved along past ten minutes. He went on "Thought not. My running theory until I met you was you were serving a higher power, but you didn't strike me as that sort of person. Then I remembered something. Queen's Pawn to D5"

Click.

Thomas, sounding more uncomfortable, replied "King's Pawn to E3.", moving his line of defence forwards.

Click.

"Queenside Bishop's Pawn to C6. Remember what I told you? It takes a certain man to borrow George Boolos' famous puzzle for credit. But what kind of man would do that? You were leaving? I remember when I brought it up to you the first time. You were amused I'd put so much thought into it. You and I are quite similar it turns out."

He paused to allow the Pawn to move up, forming a triangle protecting the Queen, followed by the click of his clock turning over to Thomas, before concluding his summary.

"You did it because you were bored."

There was a pause, as the whole room turned silent, before a laugh echoed throughout the church, growing to a bellowing roar of satisfied amusement. Thomas's booming voice filled the vast room as he emptied his lungs into the warm, candlelit air. As it died down, he looked down, and finally spoke quietly.

"I guess you're right. We are very similar after all. Oh, and Kings Bishop to D3."

Click.

Lucas smiled, as he mentally examined the board, being the first to hear the bangs and cracks of curses and spells outside the door. His face jerked to the side, as he listened carefully. The movement of his head caught Thomas' attention, as Lucas felt his heart swell.

"Unless I'm mistaken, the cavalry has arrived. Speaking of which, Kingside Bishop to D6." he said, somewhat smug yet unaware of what was actually happening outside the door. The cavalry had arrived alright, both on the board, as Anna and Tyler had arrived with a literal bang, and the Bishop pinned down passage for Thomas along the flanks. He was trapped. Lucas looked up somewhat triumphantly, expecting some admission of defeat, but true to form, Thomas took it in his stride, responding calmly as he Kingside castled, consolidating his defence to the right hand side, having a row of three pawns along the 2 line and the knight at C3 holding the king in relative safety. After the click, Lucas did the same, castling kingside, having two pawns along the 7 line on the edge at G and H. A lesser defense, but it allowed him to stay flexible while stopping any chance of a mate with anything less than two pieces. To get to him within the next few turns, Thomas would have to go very offensive. Instead, he simply said "Queenside Knight to E2.", drawing the knight back to the defensive line that was now 4 pieces strong. Faust obviously wasn't paying as much attention to the match, instead thinking about what was happening outside, quietly whispering "What is Ricard doing…" as the timer clicked.

"Queenside Knight to D7. Is there a problem Thomas?" he said as calmly as he could, trying to unnerve his opponent as he moved the knight to the centre of Lucas' frontline at the centre four squares of the 6 line.

Click.

Thomas took a moment to think, before sighing and uttering "Kingside Knight to G5."

There was the aggressive strike. This put the knight within reach of Lucas's entire defensive line, and while it's practical effect was superficial, he was sending the message that he was in control, talking through technique, telling a story without saying a word.

Remember your place.

Click.

Well two could play at that game.

"Kingside Bishop to H2."

Click.

A small gasp came out from the observers of the match, as the bishop resting on the frontline a little bit behind the halfway point, slowly creeping forwards and to the right further and further, arriving all the way to Thomas' line of pawns, taking the pawn at the very edge of the board, threatening the King at G1. If Thomas wanted to talk through the moves they made, he was screaming.

Not so fast, bitch.

"Check." the shaggy haired teen quietly murmured with a slight tinge of satisfaction.

He could almost hear Thomas's brow furrowing as the man thought, before sniggering and replying "King to H1.", blocking the move. Thomas had told him very clearly what he thought of that. It was a largely bloviating move with little backing, and it was relatively easy to get out of. The bishop hadn't even had backup, the King could've taken the Bishop with no consequence. But he didn't. That spoke volumes for the silent man, who was telling him that he was toying with him.

Lucas continued their silent conversation, responding "Knight to G4.", which backed the Bishop, solidifying the threat, telling his opponent in no uncertain terms that he was in control of the board. Thomas seemed to take it in his stride as he made the next move "Rooks pawn to F4.", to which Lucas replied "Queen to E8.", mobilising his most powerful piece, and signalling an escalation. He briefly took in the board, and grimaced as he came up with a new plan after several seconds of consideration.

He didn't like it. It would require a lot of commitment, investing many valuable pieces to get mate, meaning if he failed it would all be over. He swallowed, as Thomas interrupted his thinking "Pawn to G3."

His defensive line protecting the king was all gone now, the pawns scattered up the board, as Lucas sprung the plan forward, as in a quiet voice that didn't reflect the dramatic move, he whispered "Queen to H5."

Click.

I'm coming for you.

Thomas responded defensively, having heard the message loud and clear, as he moved the King forward to G2, as the clock ticked over. He sounded less sure of himself, which Lucas countered with a confident tone when he declared "Bishop to G1."

Click.

Thomas paused, apparently confused. Lucas clenched, hoping he'd take the bait, which he did as Thomas triumphantly shot "Knight takes Bishop.", feeling as if he'd gained the edge, as Lucas' pieces seemed to line themselves up due to his forwards push.

Click.

"Queen to H2." It was Lucas turn to sound unfussed by the move, as the Black Queen slid up alongside the White King, looming ominously next to his place of power. The King fled to F3 upon Thomas' command, followed by a click, which was met by a Pawn sliding down to the mess that was beginning to unfold in the centre of the board at E5, forming a line blocking the Kings advance.

"Pawn takes pawn at E5." Thomas said, leaping on the opportunity.

"Knight takes Pawn."

"Pawn takes Knight."

"Knight takes Pawn."

"King to F4."

Another skirmish, and Lucas traded a knight for two pawns, a bad exchange but it served a greater purpose. Sacrifice was going to be the order of the day. He retreated, saying "Knight to G6." At this point, the board was chaos, and Lucas was beginning to have trouble taking count of every piece in the fray. Pieces on the left side were away from the centre of combat, but the Bishop at C1 that Thomas had not mobilised and the Bishop he had moved at D3 had the potential to destroy his plans. Thomas briefly thought, causing Lucas concern before Thomas elected towards a tactical retreat, sending his King back to F3, which Lucas leapt on, sending a Pawn forward to F4, secured by the Knight back at G6, preventing Thomas' King from taking the looming piece, however Thomas sent another Pawn to take out the threat, saying "Pawn takes F4 Pawn."

Click.

Perfect.

"Bishop to G4, check." he grinned, as his plans fell into place. "Mate in 2 moves."

Thomas paused, surveying the board, and chuckling, replying "Are you so sure? King takes Bishop."

Lucas said nothing, as a shriek erupted outside the door. His heart dropped as he for the first time turned away from the board, towards the scream.

He knew that voice.

"TYLLLERRR!" came the screech from outside the gate, followed by a screech and weeping cries into the night.

Anna…

Thomas' laugh grew in volume as he realised just as Lucas did what had happened.

"I think that's TWO of your most valuable pieces right there."

What the hell were those two doing here?

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	14. Checkmate

Chapter 14 - Checkmate

[] [] [] - Anna

Anna recoiled in shock as the investigator flew sideways out of view, dematerialising before her eyes through the narrow door frame. Immediately, two more bolts erupted, filling her narrow vision with light, that flew away down towards a street corner to the left of the court, slamming the side of the building and rocketing away to the street opposite, quickly popping out to cast a quick Expelliarmus, before hiding behind the door frame. She ran to the edge of the door, hitting the wall to grab cover, as the fight continued beyond her view. The pair of Aurors went back and forward with their attackers, the noise of curses only interrupted once by the sound of smashing glass on the other end of the street, followed by more fighting, then a dull cry of pain.

She peeked out into the wrecked street, seeing one Auror down and the other not going to last. She had to do something she realised, as the last man barely held off a three pronged attack. She had no idea how Faust had anticipated their attack, but she didn't think about that, instead taking a deep breath and sprinting out to cover. The evening had grown cold, but her heart was roaring and flaming into the inky black night lit only by the sparks and crackles of bolts of light stretching back and forth. She hunkered down behind a line of plants, using her small stature to creep round to her left, sneaking into the building in the west side of the courtyard, forcing the window open and slinking inside the velvet carpeted old building, and open a brief investigation she found the two men firing from the Aurors flank through a door. As she slowly crept round into the building, with the pair of attackers too preoccupied to notice her before she was able to shout "Petrificus Totalus!", and halt the first one, causing the second one to turn in shock, though too slow too avoid Anna getting the jump on the man, forcing him up against the wall.

"Who are you." she hissed, holding her wand in his face, but far enough to not grab out of her hand.

"A.. Arthur Meinhardt.." he shakily whispered, looking at his friend, who as she looked at the man lying on the floor whom she'd hit first looked quite similar, though she couldn't really tell in this light..

"Your brother?"

Arthur nodded, not moving. She briefly thought, before coming to a realisation.

"Join him then. Petrificus Totalus." she whispered, putting the pieces together in her head. Identical twins working under someone trying to kill Faust. She sighed as she exited through the north door, walking back to the right towards the courtyard, sneaking behind the man firing from behind the edge of the building, whose bulky frame and slow movement gave him away before she ever got close.

"Evening Hagee."

He froze, turning to face her, opening his mouth before she interrupted.

"Fancy seeing you again. I thought you were locked up."

Hagee paused, before grinning. "I could say the same for you."

"I came with the Aurors."

His face fell to a look of horror. "Aurors?"

"Yes, aurors, come to get Faust."

He looked shocked as he almost fell back.

"You messed up Hagee."

"It wasn't me…"

"Sure. You're the ringleader."

"No!"

"Shut up. C'mon, let's end this."

She prodded him with the wand, forcing him to walk out into the courtyard at wandpoint. His skittish response was confusing, and it was causing some concern in the back of her mind. And how had he got out? But he must be the ringleader she thought, and if he surrendered the rest would. The pair of them walked slowly out into the dark yard, in view of the Auror taking cover and the last attacker hiding somewhere in the building to their left. She kept an eye out just in case the hidden guy would try something.

She had no idea who it was.

Which meant, when he did try something, sending a Stupefy down towards her, she was able to fling herself to the deck, before rushing the building after downing Hagee temporarily, sprinting towards the building, leaping in through a broken window, where she was fired on again. The shot was taken in the dark and missed by a large margin, illuminating the hall briefly as it shot through, showing a fractured picture of his body, lighting up the room for a second, like a low quality photograph, as she used the new knowledge of her surroundings in the otherwise black room, grabbing cover and lighting the room with a Stupefy back at the man, missing, and sending the spell up at an angle, through another window and up and out into the night sky.

This repeated, the pair flailing around in the fight. Anna briefly took a moment to chuckle at how Lucas would kick all of their asses in this fight, as they felt their way around blindly, firing on instinct. She swore quietly, before getting a lucky shot to the centre mass of her attacker, casting a Lumos spell and examining the unconscious body.

No.

No….

It couldn't be..

Her breath was forced out of her lungs as she nearly fainted, looking into the face of the assailant.

"TYLLLERRR!"

[] [] [] - Lucas

"I think that's TWO of your most valuable pieces right there."

What the hell were those two doing here?

He thought, trying to piece it together, before forcefully rejecting it, and focusing on his main plan. This was a wrench, but the Queen hadn't come into play yet.

"A winning strategy sometime requires sacrifice. Knight to E5. Mate next turn."

Thomas paused, somewhat annoyed by Lucas' self control, as he responded, somewhat guarded saying "Pawn takes E5 Pawn."

He smiled, and stared at the empty hole of black space where he knew Thomas was, allowing his smile to unsettle the Faust as he smugly concluded "Pawn to H5, Checkmate. You were so concerned by my Knights and Bishop and Queen you ignored the Pawn I left alone until my last turn. Typical you, you miss that which you consider below you. I do believe that is my end of the bet in the bag as well."

It was a hefty gamble, but Thomas had stayed in character to the end, missing what he knew he'd miss. Now, he knew Thomas was genuine in his persona, and had not lied to him. He was satisfied. The optics of the Checkmate were interesting as well, with the Queen, and the girl she represented, was looming in the middle background at H2, blocking off the entire H row and cutting out his legs from under him, and the Castle at F9 cutting off the F row. With a White Knight in front and a White Pawn behind him, the King was immobilised by his own pieces, and all it took was one Pawn to kill the King. Lucas took a momentary satisfaction of reaching onto the board, plucking the king right off the G4 with his narrow fingers, and fondling its delicate wooden shape, taking in the textures with the tips of his fingerprints, memorising the touch of victory.

"I'd trust you have a recorder on hand to confess?" he mocked, almost trying to get one last rise out of him, however all he got was silence from both his opponent and the observers, before he heard Thomas shuffle about, and reach across the board.

"That bloody Queen.." he said, filling Lucas in on the missing visual cue. "That was an interesting conversation." he said, referring to their silent back and forth through the movement of pieces. "You told me a lot. I daresay a bit more than you wanted to."

Lucas perked up confusedly, as Thomas asked "How long do we have until my niece arrives?"

The question threw Lucas for a couple, as he thought. While he'd learnt a lot about Thomas, he had given away a bit to. Not that it would matter too much at this late stage, given how, as he explained "She should arrive any minute."

Thomas grimaced audibly, leaning back as the two guards present took this in and scattered, one towards the door and the other down the stairs to the Floo Portal. Thomas himself stayed sitting in the candlelit heat of the altar area with Lucas. Neither one spoke for some time, just staring each other down, quietly, as Lucas finally placed the King down, though Thomas retained Lucas' Queen. They sat in silence for some time, before a loud bang was heard downstairs. Lucas turned his head towards the sound, before asking "Do you have the time?"

Thomas moved, before answering "10 past 11."

He smiled, before chuckling "Later than I expected."

Thomas frowned, obviously angry at how self assured Lucas was behaving, as footsteps echoed upwards, reverberating up to the pews, as the multiple people crossed over.

"Guten abend Onkel Thomas. Was haben Sie sich in jetzt bekommen Lucas?"

Lucas' German was pretty terrible, but he could understand that. He waved it off laughingly, replying "Es tut mir leid Laila.", as Thomas sat silent between the pair, before calling down to Laila "Pflege zu uns?"

Laila laughed up at him, swapping to English for Lucas' benefit. "Afraid not, in fact I really think you should come with us."

Thomas replied swiftly with "Why would I do that? You of all people should recognise your superior and acknowledge me as such."

"I'd ask the same of you!" she called, before pausing, and causing Thomas to chuckle as Lucas, confused, listened carefully.

"You think that gives you authority?" Thomas roared amusedly, stepping up from his seat. "You dare wield the heirloom that fell on your lap against me? That gives you nothing more than the foolhardy confidence that makes you stand and defy me!"

Laila laughed, before approaching slowly and asking back "Then why don't you take it? This wand denotes the head of the family, so why don't you grab it from my hand and take your rightful place? Or else who is the one here with foolhardy confidence?"

Lucas began to piece things together. It was the wand, the wand he'd never been able to work out, they were arguing over. He leaned forward to listen closely, unfortunately getting the attention of Thomas, who grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and held his wand to his temple, forcing the end into his head like a knife.

"Ricard." Thomas sighed. "What are you doing with her?"

Ricard, however didn't bite, as Thomas goaded "Careful.". Lucas could barely scoff as he was manhandled down the steps of the church, his movements foreign and puppet like as his clothes ruffled under Thomas' iron grip. He staggered down to the bottom, his neck beginning to bleed as the wand was held with such force that it began to pierce his skin.

"Don't…" Thomas began "I planned too much.. I can't lose here.. I won't… I'm not done yet."

"Let him go first."

The man paused, before whispering in Lucas' ear "Walk forward." as he released the wand. Lucas could guess why, to cause some separation and allow Laila to back off.

"Sectumsempra."

He didn't recognise the curse as it struck his back as his body went cold. The world suddenly muted, as he felt the dull impact of his knees hitting the ground. He could hear Laila scream as his natural compass went flying, before his cheekbone struck the edge of a step and his body slid slowly down towards the pews. He heard a scream again, less distinct, as his ear filled up with blood. As his mental functions began to slow, he could barely whisper "Coward…", before he reached forward, and his world went quiet.

[] [] [] - Laila

"You bastard!" she roared, as a misty cloud of blood erupted behind Lucas' back. Time seemed to freeze as Lucas' legs buckled under him, and he fell. The candles glare took all the colour out of the two men, their shadows moving about among a bright orange background of a mass of light. The candles, arranged in a semicircular ring of fire around the table. As she had first walked towards the scene, moving between the rows of wooden seats, looking at the organic flickering fire around the two men against the table, draped in a lightless black veil of darkness. Lucas had been silent and expectant in his movement, his shadow staying still in contrast to the blaze behind him, whereas Thomas had been comparably animated, furious at her defiance. She'd drawn her wand on him to attempt to get him to submit, and called his bluff when he tried to talk her down, and he'd called hers as he cut Lucas' puppet strings, sending his limp, bloodied body down to the steps, stretched down along the ridges like clothes, stained red being left out to dry, the colour finally showing through as the contrasting light seemed to focus on her uncle, his body pitch black with a fire roaring behind him as he stood above Lucas' still body. Time was still moving at a hard stop, as the blood dripped down along the tiled steps towards her feet resting on the wooden floor. His back now exposed, she saw in the bottom corner of her eye his mangled back, clothes ripped apart to expose the hulk of raw meat that the spell had rendered.

"Do you like that trick?" Thomas asked her from the top of the stairs "Borrowed it from a colleague, it works a trick for a slow death. It's a shame, he was most delightful company."

"You will pay for this…" she hissed "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY THE CONSEQUENCES!"

He laughed, before retorting "Oh really? Then who will save his life? You certainly can't!"

She paused before responding. His response betrayed a few things. She knew the curse, it was developed by a half blooded friend of the family, and knew what it did. It drew cuts and stabs into an opponent, drawing blood the old fashioned way. If he could cure it, it wasn't a case of some manner of counter curse, just regular medical magic. Still, he'd lost a lot of blood, but she could afford to bluff a little longer. If she projected having more power, she would take the upper hand.

"I don't care about him." she lied. "You used a backhanded tactic, and have let the family's honour down, and that will not stand. I will take you down, on behalf of all of the Fausts, not the mere life of one you villain!"

In reality, she cared deeply, but not only did she see it more as a duty to eliminate her uncle from power, but it was imperative to show not only to him but to her followers that she was not affected on an emotional level, and still displayed the clear headed thinking of a leader. The very fact she was making this rational decision showed to herself that she held the upper hand, as Thomas was not making himself out to be the figure of clarity.

He paused, surprised by that response despite himself. "Damn! Even Lucas, in all his sociopathic glory never stooped that low!"

"Your little sideshow ends here, mongrel." she snarled. "You were a failure from the start. Join him, bleeding out into the floor if you're such a big fan of his ilk. EN GARDE!"

She made the first strike, firing dead ahead with the blasting curse Confringo, sending a beam of explosive energy forward to wipe him out and end it quickly, but he had no intention of coming quietly, as he raised the topmost step towards the altar up like agate, flush with the step below it and floor above it to form a clean wall dividing them, flinging Lucas upwards and away like a catapult, his body not resisting as it landed in the pews. The explosion shattered the wall, forming a relic like u shaped hole stretching from the top of the wall on either side, valleying out at the centre, as if it had been bombed.

Which it had been. Luckily Lucas had been far enough away to be spared of the blast, but she and her crowd had been given a fair belting by the shock. Thomas snarled as he walked through the rubble, attempting to go on the offensive, but Laila shut that down by slamming some of the loose rubble from either side of the remaining wall into him in chunks, the projectiles slamming into him. He backed away towards the centre of the altar, rearing up against the table as he shot out "AVADA KEDAVRA", holding nothing back, however Laila pulled no punches either, deflecting the killing curse with a shield, rebounding it back towards him at a slight angle, smacking the edge of the wall with a vengeance. Now the wall blocked the candlelight, forming a reddy orange halo around the shadowed Faust as he attempted to tear the edges of the hole down towards them as she had, but she easily dissolved them to dust before they got anywhere near.

"Give up, fool." Laila cawed, stepping up through the gap, as she saw Thomas in full colour, smiling back towards her as he took a noble stance drawing his wand from behind and to his left and swung it in line with her, as the light of the candles disappeared with the swing of his arm. She barely caught onto what he was doing in time as the flame kept moving as it swung round the last candle, not stopping as the blaze followed Thomas' arm through the air towards Laila in an arc. She lifted the floor to the left of her, using the brick to block the flames, 90 degrees to the oncoming blaze, as the flames ate away at her defense. She reimbursed the damage with more brick from the ground, drawing more and more as the flames continued to double back and get back at the wall.

But she had far less magical stamina than her adult opponent, and her assistants were trying to save Lucas from bleeding out. How could she continue to block it?

The answer came in a moment of memory, as she began to slowly adjust the wall, angling it further and further anticlockwise, the leading edge going outwards and the trailing edge coming back towards her, flaring the fire off to the left hand side of the building and saving the wall from utter was now another problem however, as the flames had flown into the wooden superstructure and began to eat at the pillaring and furniture, spreading like napalm. At least it appeared like Thomas had lost his control of the finite amount of fire, and he tried to attack her with another killing curse as she returned her attention to him as she released the hold on the wall, blocking the spell just in time. She backed up into the wall Thomas had made to avoid her explosive spell at the beginning, as she briefly panicked internally as Thomas grinned "You're still holding back. You think you can beat me?"

He was right. He had already escalated to the killing curse, and she had to show her superiority to this worm. She looked back at the group, the fire blocking most noise, but they seemed preoccupied. She turned back to Thomas and roared "Avada kedavra!"

He blocked it at the last moment, grinning as he fired back. They sparred, as she began to feel a physical strain on her arm. She fired off one more, before the wand finally gave, shattering in her hand.

"GAAH!"

She couldn't understand what was happening as she fell to her back. She saw the shards fly away from her as the hair inside caught fire and turned to ashes. What was happening? The wand accepted her, or else it would have killed her.

"I don't understand…"

That was all she could say as she was wracked with pain through her entire body, as she felt a wave of spiking pain, tearing her apart cell by cell.

What was happening to her?

[] [] [] - Lucas

"The bleedings stopped, we-"

"Is that a fire?"

"Fuck!"

"We've got to go, leave him, he won't make it!"

"But Lai-"

"Screw her, she can burn with the Tom bastard, we've got to go!"

The voices faded in and then out again almost as quickly, replaced by the crackling and burning sound and smell of wood dying. His legs felt as if they had been passed through a mincer, as they pulsed with white hot agony, but his throat was too choked with blood to cry, only gargling his cry for help. His sonic reference was just monotonous fire, as his mental map had already been replaced with the mental claxon of encroaching death.

"GAAH!"

His ears pricked up as he heard Laila's cry over the fire, as his heart rate finally spiked beyond that of an asthmatic turtle. He had to do something. It almost surprised him as he rolled over from his back onto his belly. He couldn't imagine going out of his way to help anyone, but sod it, he thought, as he experimented with his limbs. His legs refused to move, but his right arm moved from the elbow up and his left had its full motion, even if every movement caused a spike of agonising torture. He reached to his left, and hauled his body by the pew, almost like doing one armed chin ups along the short length of the hall up to the steps. Wincing and crying as the blood came back up from his throat, spilling onto the floor as he raised an elbow, lifting his body of one rung of the steps after another, agonisingly slowly. What was happening up there?

After what seemed like years climbing the steps, he laid his hand down on the tiled altar area, receiving a shock as he laid his hand down to rest on the brick, his whole mind shaking with the shock, his mind's eye pulsing. What was going on?

He raised his hand away, and it disappeared. Confused, almost distracted from the task at hand, he placed his hand down more slowly, gripping a shard of wood about the length of a finger before receiving the hallucinations again. He saw vertical and horizontal lines drawn in the black, and a voice.

"You are worthy, but this is all I can do."

He didn't know what it meant, but as he felt his body drag along the edge of the last step, he realised that this was an outline of vision.

"Thank you, he whispered into the wooden shard, before holding it in his right hand, using his left to drag himself into a gap in what looked like a wall that wasn't there before.

"THOMAS!" he choked out at the tall figure in the centre of his vision. The figures outline turned to him before recoiling.

"How are you still alive?"

He ignored this as he saw Laila lying on the floor, as he began to crawl towards her. Thomas looked down at them, not acting on Lucas' new lease on life as he didn't think the teen would live very long.

"Laila?"

Laila appeared to turn to him, and seemed to shake. "I…"

He shivered, as for what could be the first time in the life he felt fury. He had been cheated and lied to.

"AND THAT WILL NOT DO!" he roared, turning and aiming his wand at Thomas, using his wooden shard of vision to aim square on at Thomas, crying "Expelliarmius!" and sending the shocked politician flying back over the chess table and further into the background. Unfortunately, the movement of the waist had ripped open the rudimentary stitches, sending blood flowing from his waist down onto Laila, as he flopped onto his back.

His hands grew weak, as he lost the grip on the wood, his vision dying.

"Take my spare wand.." he weakly whispered.

"Sorry.." he coughed as he lost feeling in his chest.

"That's it from me."

[] [] [] - Laila

"No!"

She cried, as she hauled herself to her knees, and began punching his chest, trying to get him back up. "Get up you lazy bastard! Don't clock out now! Please!"

Lucas didn't respond, only releasing his ebony wand into her hand, allowing her to take it from him. It was a little small, which seemed weird, but that was not her concern as she stood up and stared down the fiery alley down to Thomas, who had stood back up and was ready to go. Every movement was crippling, as she trotted over to him. She was filled with wrath, as, not waiting for an opening, cried "Crucio!"

Immediately, Thomas cringed, holding himself upright. She didn't care about how he felt, he simply had to submit. She was superior. He fell to one knee, and held his arms out on the floor. He refused to speak, as she continued to hold the curse.

"It's like I said you pathetic embarrassment." she hissed "You betrayed your honour, and for that, you will pay dearly."

It took a moment for him to finally, give in, as he gritted his teeth and held out a little longer, having an admirable constitution, before he finally caved "Alright alright! Fine!"

Laila gave way, as Thomas collapsed to the ground, followed shortly after by Laila, her pain catching up with her as she heard several other people finally break through the door. She heard a Polish voice call out in the dark.

"Laila!"

* * *

 **~Eth0**


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

"So what do you think is going to happen?"

Tyler's question sat on the deck of the balcony for some time, as neither Anna nor Laila answered it. It had been several days since the incident and Munich, and Laila's grandmother had granted them refuge of sorts while they sorted out the legal end. They had been living in the castle buried within the Black Forest of Baden Wurttemburg, though despite the sun reaching above the peaks of the pines, unchallenged by any clouds, the mood was gloomy. Laila was still wracked with an unknown pain, unable to move far, and only just able to come of with snarky responses, but Lucas was almost as big a worry. Tyler remembered first seeing the body, immediately picturing something out of a slasher flick come to life, as if some maniac had taken a katana to a corpse, then added some extra blood for good measure. It was disturbing, and he was being treated by the family practitioner.

"Well? What do you think?"

He didn't care, just that any dialogue was better than the one in his head.

"There's nothing to think." Anna snapped. "Thomas gets off, Laila's fucked, and Lucas may not live to see tomorrow!"

She was right on all counts, Anna knew, as she berated him. He wasn't the same since then, but she was still furious at him from the other day. Thomas had been charged with assault and battery, conspiracy to commit a terrorist theft, grievous bodily harm, and money laundering, and had been sentenced to indefinite house arrest. He wouldn't see a day in Askaban. And Lucas-

"Now Anna, never assume."

No..

The three collectively turned to the vicinity of the voice, as a Lucas that looked slightly worse for wear hobbled in, leaning heavily on a walking frame as he stepped inside. "I wouldn't dare do such a thing as die off on you."

"THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN YOU PIECE OF SHIT."

"Thank you Laila."

Lucas grinned as Anna and Tyler moved to embrace him, nearly knocking him flat, as he tried to stay upright. "It's good to see everything went reasonably according to plan."

"But Thomas-"

Tyler cut Anna off with a laugh, saying "Let him stew, worse injustices have happened. I mean, he's still quite comfortable, it's not like he had to give up sex and serve on the wall, but he's in some sort of exile at least.."

Lucas laughed heartily at this, as this was the Tyler he remembered before their fight over the interview. His mellow thoughts were interrupted however, as Laila groaned. His question was answered before he had the chance to ask it from behind as a new voice said "She's wounded from breaking the wand."

Lucas turned and asked "Are you referring to?"

She nodded.

"What are you talking about Lucas?"

The woman straightened up, and said. "My granddaughter." she began, causing Anna and Tyler to stand up straight in realisation, though Lucas had yet to give a shit. "Was granted a soulbound wand. When she broke it, it has now been drawing at her being. She will die within the week if no alternative wand is create. However, the hair is no longer known, the last strand used in the wands creation."

Even Lucas appeared somber, as her grandmother asked Lucas "Mind going for a walk?"

He was surprised, but went along, as Tyler and Anna sighed as they were left alone with Laila. This was the first they had heard of Laila's condition, and were saddened as Laila's grandmother and Lucas wandered throughout the halls.

"My name is Gabrielle Faust, Lucas Jacobson Beck I've been told?" she asked, as he nodded. "Good. It's a shame she's going so soon. She proved determined in defending the Faust name, and was smart. You were to be her spouse, mm?"

Lucas backed off and blushed briefly, saying "We were… in a relationship."

The old woman laughed, and poked him. "Relax, I'm messing with you. I'm not that old. Still, it's sad." she paused, allowing him to be surprised at her down to earth personality, but then again she, as head of the family, would have to meet with people daily. She continued "While she was quite informal, she knows what she's doing. I never got along with her, but you should never deny efficiency.

He nodded. She didn't like her granddaughter, but she respected her. That really was a metaphor for the entire family.

"Can you see them?" Gabrielle asked.

"No." he replied, having lost the wooden shard.

"These are the portraits of all the Faust heads, starting here with Gerhard. Please, feel it at least, it was sewn with full texture and magic."

He thanked her, surprised by her hospitality, as he rested a finger on the canvas. He drew his finger from the background of the picture to the hair-

And saw Laila.

He fell back onto onto his ass, shocking Gabrielle, and summoning two Faust maids to bring him back to his feet, as he brushed his hand against the stitchwork, and saw it again. It took him a moment to realise.

And then he started pulling at the tread.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she cried, trying to pull him back, but he snapped off the end, and the image of Laila's face came into his mind's eye, clear as day.

He turned to the matriarch.

"There's your hair. He hid it in his portrait, to prevent a replica. Now can you make Laila's new wand?" he told her, almost daring her.

There was a pause, and Gabrielle almost sobbed.

"Yes."

 **FIN.**


End file.
